Playwright Simon Jay plays upcoming show ‘The Sunshine Spa’: “If more shows confronted what disability means, you’d have more uncomfortable audiences”

The writer and comedian brings this new piece exploring societal prejudices and the subject of intimacy through the eyes of a disabled person. Guillermo Nazara chats with the author, to learn more about the development of its uplifting narrative – set in a Moroccan spa, and intended to clean and clear audiences’ minds.

How did the idea for this show come about?

I visited my friend’s riad in Marrakesh last year, and had such an incredible experience. I was struck by how there were so many parallel cultures; the ancient traditional Medina, the colonialism, the contemporary globalism and us, tourists, all mixing together in this invisible way. I could feel my ignorance seeping out of my pours despite trying to be as respectful as possible. I visited a spa with my girlfriends, and had a hammam, and I was washed, like you are when you’re a child, and it was just this intense and beautiful thing that happened.

In the last few years, there’s been a significant increase in new shows exploring disabilities of many kinds. Do you feel that has contributed to any changes in society so far?

Not really. Because the representation of disability is very safe; it’s often through a non-disabled lens, and it is separate from the audience. You go, you watch a story about disability, then you leave, you don’t take anything with you. If there were more shows that confronted what disability means, you’d have a much bigger conversation, and a lot more uncomfortable audiences.

How would you describe the current situation in the industry for disabled performers?

It’s really tough. If it wasn’t for companies like Graeae, Birds of Paradise, etc. making sure that disabled performers get the opportunity to have parts in exceptional work, I think things would be bleak. There just aren’t the opportunities out there. There needs to be a lot more joining up, with roles being created, and stories being written that focus on us, not just about disability – but making those adjustments and changing those perceptions, where it wouldn’t seem odd or (ableism alert) ‘inspirational’ to cast us in a lead role.

What do you think should be done to further disabled people’s inclusivity into the performing arts?

We need to be in the room, it’s as simple as that. Give us the jobs, recruit from top to bottom. Count how many disabled artistic directors there are – you begin to see that there is a real deficit of representation. There are 14 million disabled people in the UK! I can’t imagine that percentage even remotely reflected in our industry.

Does your show contribute to such inclusivity?

It’s a disabled lead character, written for a disabled actor by a disabled writer, being directed by a disabled director. When we did a read-through, the actor said: “It’s so nice to read a disabled character like this, for an actor, it’s a dream to be able to play such an interesting, confident, funny and interesting character”.

What has the process of developing this show been like, from a creative perspective?

It’s been great, as a writer, to have support every step of the way. Sometimes you’re very isolated in this job; you turn out a draft, get notes, then redraft. But with Rob at BOP and Laila at Play, Pie and a Pint, it has a real collegiate feel. It’s very empowering, to have your work lifted up and supported.

Have you found any particular challenges?

Being autistic, I need things explained to be in very clear and direct ways. What seems obvious to other creatives, does not come naturally to me. I’ve been working in theatre for two decades, but I still needed to ask ‘oh what do I do in the development room, do I ask questions?’, sometimes the flouncy language of artsy people can be hard to cut through, but we get there in the end.

As well as increasing visibility for disabled people, what are the key themes and messages of the piece?

The key themes and messages are, ‘What is the importance of touch?’,  that question in relation to disabled bodies. How do we view disabled bodies, what is the sensual history of a disabled body, of all our bodies, and how integral to our development, that we get that love and contact, and what happens when we receive clinical care from an early age, what does that do to us?

What makes this show or story so unique?

We are going to create a hammam treatment on stage; the steam, the water, the beautiful aromas – it’s such a private sanctuary, and such an intimate act between two people, you’d never see together, it’ll be something totally new. Also, and this is ironic considering we were talking about the lack of disabled representation. The show is a two-hander and the masseuse is a Moroccan woman. Our dramaturg, Fatima, remarked about how there is almost no Moroccan female representation in British theatre; so that feels so important to be bringing that representation to the space.

Why come see The Sunshine Spa?

It’s funny, it’s heartwarming, it’s challenging. You’ll leave feeling like your hearts been pulled in all sorts of directions. I really think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever written, and that’s because it comes from a vulnerable place, that I feel we can all relate to, disabled or not.

The Sunshine Spa will play at Glasgow’s Oran Mor Theatre from 19 to 24 May. Tickets are available on the following link.

By Guillermo Nazara