This is as good a play as Ive ever seen about the absurdity of prejudice. Stephen Keyworth has taken incidents from performer Robert Softleys life and spun a poignant but very funny tale.
Softley himself plays a character called Robert, who despite having cerebral palsy is as prejudiced as the next man. He never wanted to go out with a disabled man because he didnt want anyone to look at him with a disabled boyfriend and think arent they cute. But life being what it is he meets and falls in love with Nathan who is also disabled.
The story of their love affair and rather extraordinary few years together is told by way of flash back to an attendant who refuses them entry to Alton Towers theme park because they dont have a carer with them. Rather like the ghosts of Christmas past they take her (Donna) with them on a whistle stop tour of their past, from their first date at the G8 summit at Gleneagles, to a holiday in California. Along the way they encounter and overcome many comic and more serious obstacles to their relationship (Nathan reveals he is really a woman!). Robert even meets someone else the able bodied Steve but youll be pleased to hear there is a happy ending as the sweet natured Donna not only lets them into the park but joins them.
The script is sharp, if slightly overlong for such a late time slot, and all the performances strong. Theres even a sub plot involving a Constable McTavish, which is based on a true incident when George Bush ran over the policeman at Gleneagles. Whilst this play is strong on revealing that prejudice encountered by various minority social groups, especially those who belong to more than one, it is also strong on pointing out the universal nature of the difficulty of maintaining any relationship or love affair. As Nathan and Robert hover on the brink of their first kiss but Nathan stalls, Robert quips are we not drunk enough yet? You dont have to be disabled to relate to that one.
