A heartwarming comedy with unexpected connections across cultures.
Set in the vibrant heart of Marrakesh, The Sunshine Spa is a touching, funny and thought-provoking play that brings together two strangers – Iain, a wheelchair user from Manchester on holiday with his partner, and Zainab, a young Moroccan woman working at a tourist spa to maintain her independence.
Ahead of a run at Òran Mór we sat down with writer Simon Jay and director Robert Softley Gale to learn more.
What can you tell me about The Sunshine Spa?
Simon: We get to spend 50 minutes inside a hammam in Marrakesh - it’s a traditional wash that’s become a spa treatment effectively, very intimate - and we see Iain, this total lad who has all this bravado, but really he’s struggling inside - and he’s going to be washed by Zainab, this young Moroccan woman - thing is - it’s totally taboo for a woman to wash a man in Morocco, between that and Iain’s fear of being touched - sparks are gonna fly!
Where did the inspiration for the piece come from?
Simon: I actually went to Marrakesh for the first time last September and I noticed how dissonant it was for me a white western tourist immersed in this very North African culture, I mean are we just ignorant tourists - is there a way to connect when so much is geared toward us being provided a service. I also had a hammam, and it was such an incredible experience, it was like being washed as a child, so tender - it was emotional.
How did you approach the writing and development of the piece?
Simon: I knew I had to do my research, especially in writing Zainab, I wanted her to be an authentic Moroccan woman. Our dramaturg Fatima really helped educate and shape Zainab, and she introduced me to some amazing Moroccan literature and cinema - very much from the female perspective.
Why do you think now is the right time for this piece?
Simon: We are in an age where to mistrust one another, to be disrespectful of culture and identity is legitimised. At the same time a lot people want to learn and connect but are scared of getting it wrong - I feel my play is an example that we can connect, even if it’s clumsy and awkward - we can get there, we just need to be vulnerable.
Why do you think now is the right time for this piece?
Simon: We are in an age where to mistrust one another, to be disrespectful of culture and identity is legitimised. At the same time a lot people want to learn and connect but are scared of getting it wrong - I feel my play is an example that we can connect, even if it’s clumsy and awkward - we can get there, we just need to be vulnerable.
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| Simon Jay |
What drew you to this project?
Robert: I love finding new stories about disabled people and putting them on stage - this perspective that Simon brought is one I hadn’t seen before so I was immediately drawn in. I think cross-culture perspectives on disability need to be talked about – but we also need to do that with humour and empathy. The Sunshine Spa is going to bring all of that!
How has the collaborative process been like for you both in preparing for the run?
Simon: It’s been great to develop the play with actors, it’s a very organic process - the play started in a very different place and shape and as it evolves we are finding out all this stuff about the characters I never knew was there.
Robert: We’re at the very start of the process - this is the exciting part where everything is possible. And noone has fallen out yet!
What is the lead-up like for you both as you prepare ahead of rehearsals?
Simon: Anxiety haha! You don’t want to lose sight of what the play is actually about - touch and intimacy - especially around disabled bodies. And it’s trying to hold onto that as all these tempting avenues open up.
Robert: Busy and exciting - at this point the stress is mostly on Simon to find the right structure for the script. As we get closer to rehearsals - to casting the show and putting it together - then my work increases.
How do you both creatively blend the styles of comedy and drama?
Simon: They are a hair's width apart - a joke can be so disarming, especially amongst some pretty touching and emotional scenes we have - it heightens both elements having them together.
How important is it that work like this is staged with the themes including disability explored?
Simon: Huge. Fatima was telling me how there is almost zero Moroccan representation in British theatre - how has that happened??? And that I – a white western male – is writing this character…we really need to do a lot more!
Robert: Disabled stories have been missing from our culture for so long - forever - so every time we stage a play like this we’re helping to make disabled people a little bit more visible. That feels hugely important.
Where did your careers begin?
Simon: I started in London where I am from, directing plays off-west end for many years before transitioning into one-man shows for the fringe and touring internationally.
Robert: I started around 25 years ago as an actor for a company in Edinburgh. I then realised that as a disabled creative in theatre that I’d need to widen my skills - there weren’t (and still aren’t) enough plays with disabled characters so I had to branch out in to writing and directing to create opportunities for myself and other disabled creatives.
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| Robert Softley Gale |
What was the first piece of theatre that you saw that had a big impact on you?
Simon: My family are big comedy fans, so we’d see big touring productions of things like Bottom, League of Gentlemen and I got a sense of the complexities of writing for the stage - how you make work entertaining yet with meaning - getting that laugh - but also creating something that stays with you - it may seem odd to pick something that isn’t Ibsen’s Ghosts - but I’d say constructing comedy - even as sketches can really be an education in how to write for the stage.
How do you reflect on your careers to date and how has that knowledge helped you in staging this piece?
Simon: When I was younger, I was trying to write plays I thought would be the flavour of the month, copying trends and styles in theatre - as I’ve developed I’ve found my own voice more and realised there is a play for that. This play is the most authentic in terms of my voice, and my writing up to this point has led to that.
Robert: In every way - developing as a theatre maker is about honing the skills needed to get a story across to an audience in the best possible way. This story - a gay disabled man in a Moroccan spa - would’ve been very difficult to tell a decade or so ago. Now feels like a better time as we’re expanding our understanding of the broad experience of disability.
What would you hope an audience member takes away from seeing the show?
Simon: That you can explore and think about disabled bodies, about touch and intimacy and what that means for your own body and your own sense of touch and what that means to you.
The Sunshine Spa plays at Òran Mór in Glasgow from 19th - 24th May 2025. Tickets are available from https://playpiepint.com/plays/the-sunshine-spa/
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