Powerful new drama explores secrets, sex… and toilets
Close Enough to Touch
Arts Centre, Washington
Thursday 29 October 2026
Leeds-based Red Ladder Theatre Company and Hull’s Silent Uproar have joined forces to produce a powerful new play from an exciting and original voice in northern theatre.
Close Enough to Touch, a one-person drama about secrets, sex…and toilets written by new playwright Henry Roberts, will go on tour to venues across the North of England and down to the Midlands this autumn, visiting Washington in October.
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What happens when our deepest urges are shrouded in shame? What happens when we can’t articulate our desires, even to ourselves? Close Enough to Touch follows a man who has a girlfriend … and a secret.
In this gripping, intimate drama, audiences are taken into the mysterious and taboo world of cruising – anonymous sex in public places. As our nameless character’s secret builds, so does his shame. The play swings between passion, pathos and humour as we watch a young man struggle to find pleasure, acceptance and, crucially, the language to express himself.
Playwright Henry Roberts, whose script was longlisted in 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.
Playwright Henry Roberts
“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.”
Red Ladder Theatre Company’s artistic director, Cheryl Martin, who is directing the play, 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.”
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.”
Yorkshire-born actor Stefan Race, who trained at ALRA (Academy of Live & Recorded Arts), will star in the show. Director, Cheryl Martin, said: “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, set up in 1968 against a backdrop of civil unrest and anti-war protests, has a rich history of creative collaborations, having previously worked on co-productions with the likes of Leeds Playhouse, Liverpool’s Royal Court and Theatre Direct, in Toronto.
Established in 2013, Silent Uproar has built up an impressive reputation for identifying and championing extraordinary talent.
Recommended age rating 16+
- Directed by Cheryl Martin
- Written by Henry Roberts
- Dramaturg – Alex Mitchell
Running time 70 minutes, no interval
Content warning: sexual description and strong language.
#closeenoughtotouch
Tickets: https://www.sunderlandculture.org.uk/whats-on/close-enough-to-touch/
