A provocative new play that challenges “society’s discomfort with people with disabilities engaging in sexual lives” | stage

“I“I’m often asked why everything I do ends up being about sex,” says Scottish writer-director Robert Softley-Gale, artistic director of Birds of Paradise. His new production, (We Indulge In) A Little Play, is designed to spark frank discussions about gender and disability. “People say the right things and they support equality, but what if you push that into less comfortable areas? Like have you ever dated a disabled person? Would you marry a disabled person? Would you have sex with someone with a disability? Some might say: ‘Yes, of course I would.’ But would they? There’s still discomfort in realizing that people with disabilities have sex lives.

Softly Gill and his co-writers, Hannah Pascal Keegan and Gabriella Sloss, aim to challenge audiences in the show, which he also directs. They hope to counter narratives about people with disabilities needing charity or pity, and instead show complex and nuanced lives. “We don’t see a lot of disabled characters. Seeing them having fun, respectful sex is almost unheard of. And by doing it in the ways we do, we’re being quite provocative,” he says.

The playfully named production follows Ben, a young disabled man, portrayed by Ed Larkin (star of the West End musical The Little Big Things). Ben juggles living at home with his parents alongside being at university and having an occasional girlfriend, and the play explores the constraints and expectations that come with that. “He relies on his parents for his care needs and to get out and about,” says Softley Gale. “His mother and father make assumptions about him and what he can do. These assumptions can actually be quite wrong and misleading.” There is a huge assumption about gender. It’s a theme that Glasgow-based Birds of Paradise has explored before, including in Wendy Hoose, a comedy about two young people – including a physically disabled woman – looking for a one-night stand.

Vanessa Coffey, Intimacy Coordinator, was involved in the entire process of the new play, beginning with a workshop to explore the concept and sensitively address the themes of the production. As the play developed, part of Coffey’s job was to ascertain “what we needed to say to potential actors, what kinds of things they might be asked to explore. It’s basically about consent, everyone knowing the work we’re making, and letting people feel like the safety scaffolding is in place.” She highlights that it is also important to ensure that the audience feels safe about what they are watching.

The production addresses the topic of sex sensitively, using humor and allowing the audience to see themselves in action. “But then we also take them to places that challenge them a little bit, and ask them questions that are difficult to grapple with,” Softley-Gale explains. “That’s all theater can do. It’s not good at offering solutions or answers. In fact, we don’t have the answers, but I think it’s good at asking questions.”

The play shows that Ben’s parents have “a lot of sexual ability, a lot of potential for sex,” says Softly Gale. “Then we see this young man, Ben, who maybe doesn’t have the same access.” He explains that the play contains explicit sexual content. “The opening scene depicts the parents having sex on the kitchen table, with chocolate sauce. The script includes a live stream sequence from OnlyFans in which Ben performs solo sex acts. There is extensive sexual dialogue throughout, escalating from flirtation to explicit descriptions of penetration, bodily fluids and various sexual acts. The play also depicts conversations about sex work, network culture, and includes references to sex clubs, baby oil wrestling, and various sexual scenarios.” He emphasizes that the sexual content serves the play’s main themes about the right of people with disabilities to sexual expression, power, and visibility. “It is graphic with purpose and not gratuitous. The production will use theatrical techniques – lighting, staging and suggestion – to present these moments with an honesty and artistry appropriate for adult theater audiences.”

Softly Gale hopes the production will help make these audiences think about their preconceived notions, including questioning how people with physical disabilities should have sex. “We’re not trying to ignore this question or say it’s a bad question,” he says. “How do we move forward with this conversation? If we try to pretend it’s nothing, it doesn’t help anyone. If we shy away from questions, we give the audience permission to be shy too. It’s about making people uncomfortable in an uncomfortable way.”

“There’s a lot of curiosity around what people might consider taboo,” Covey says. “If people leave this place wanting to have conversations about what they saw, that will be the big takeaway.” Addressing these topics in theater is not just about challenging perceptions, it is also about making the lives of people with disabilities more visible, explains Softley-Gale. “A lot of the feedback we get from disabled audiences is: ‘I’ve never seen my story told before’ – and that’s a really powerful thing.”