Leeds’ Red Ladder Theatre Company has teamed up with Hull’s Silent Uproar to bring a striking new one-person drama to venues from the North of England down into the Midlands this autumn.
Close Enough to Touch, written by playwright Henry Roberts, is billed as a drama about secrets, sex and toilets, and follows a man living a double life: he’s got a girlfriend, and something he’s kept hidden even from himself.
The play takes audiences into the little-discussed world of cruising — anonymous sex sought out in public places — tracing how the central character’s shame builds alongside the secret he’s keeping. Red Ladder and Silent Uproar describe it as a story that moves between passion, humour and heartbreak, as its nameless lead searches for pleasure, acceptance and, above all, the words to explain himself.
The production carries a recommended age rating of 16+, with content warnings for sexual description, sexual assault and strong language.
Ambiguous desires
The UK tour runs from 16 October to 9 November, with two Leeds dates at Leeds Playhouse on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 October, both starting at 8pm. Yorkshire-born actor Stefan Race, who trained at the Academy of Live & Recorded Arts (ALRA), takes the lead role, under the direction of Red Ladder’s artistic director, Cheryl Martin.
Playwright Henry Roberts, whose script was longlisted for the RSC 37 Plays Project, said: “I’m thrilled to be working with Red Ladder and Silent Uproar on Close Enough to Touch. I wrote the play because I wanted to explore the ambiguous sides of our desires – the kinds of desire that aren’t easy to categorise or label, that may be contradictory to who we feel we are as people. From day one the entire team has championed the play and supported me to make it the best it can be. I can’t wait for people to see it.”
Cheryl Martin said: “New writing is at the heart of what Red Ladder has been doing for nearly 60 years. That’s why we’re so excited to be working with a writer as gifted as Henry and a play as good as this. Henry is a brilliant new northern voice in the world of theatre, and his powerful script tells the kind of story you don’t come across every day. As a director, I’m spoilt for choice with Close Enough to Touch because it offers so many possibilities – exploring them is going to be a real pleasure.”
Messy, filthy, funny and heartfelt
Alex Mitchell, Silent Uproar’s artistic director, said: “Close Enough to Touch is messy, filthy, funny and heartfelt, a show about relationships, cruising and the shame we can feel when desire, particularly queer desire, doesn’t fit neatly into the life we’ve built for ourselves.
“It asks what happens when that shame, or our own cowardice, grows because we don’t have the words to say what we really want. Henry’s play is humorous, challenging and painfully human. It’s exactly the kind of work Silent Uproar exists to champion.”
On casting, Martin added: “We were lucky enough to have several excellent actors to choose from, but Stefan was the standout, matching the character so closely – even at audition – it hardly seemed like acting. It was as if Stefan was the character and understood the script so well.”
Red Ladder was founded in 1968 amid a backdrop of civil unrest and anti-war protest, and has since built a track record of collaborations, including co-productions with Leeds Playhouse, Liverpool’s Royal Court and Toronto’s Theatre Direct. Silent Uproar, established in 2013, has carved out a reputation for spotting and backing exceptional new talent.
Tickets are available through Red Ladder Theatre Company’s website.
