Theatre Asks The Right Questions
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Mumbai Theatre Guide
Jan 14, 2026, 6:32:46 AMJan 14
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Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Dear Reader,
Theatre Asks The Right Questions
A provocative new play challenges society's 'discomfort that disabled people have sex lives' according to a report by Caroline Butterwick, in The Guardian.
Oddly titled (We indulge in) a bit of roll play is an explicit drama about a young disabled man's sexual expression – and puts uncomfortable questions to its audience, she writes.
Scottish writer and director Robert Softley Gale, artistic director of the company Birds of Paradise, says that his new production is designed to provoke frank discussions around sex and disability. "People say the right things and that they support equality, but what if you push that into areas that are less comfortable? Like would you ever date a disabled person? Would you marry a disabled person? Would you have sex with a disabled person? Some would go, 'Yeah, of course I would.' But would they? There's still discomfort in recognising that disabled people have sex lives," he is quoted as having said in the piece.
"Softley Gale and his co-writers, Hana Pascal Keegan and Gabriella Sloss, aim to challenge audiences in the show which he is also directing. They hope to counter narratives around disabled people needing charity or pity, and instead show lives that are complex and nuanced," writes Butterwick.
To get the right solutions to uncomfortable questions, they have to be asked first. Theatre serves that purpose.
Theatre Asks The Right Questions
A provocative new play challenges society's 'discomfort that disabled people have sex lives' according to a report by Caroline Butterwick, in The Guardian.
Oddly titled (We indulge in) a bit of roll play is an explicit drama about a young disabled man's sexual expression – and puts uncomfortable questions to its audience, she writes.
Scottish writer and director Robert Softley Gale, artistic director of the company Birds of Paradise, says that his new production is designed to provoke frank discussions around sex and disability. "People say the right things and that they support equality, but what if you push that into areas that are less comfortable? Like would you ever date a disabled person? Would you marry a disabled person? Would you have sex with a disabled person? Some would go, 'Yeah, of course I would.' But would they? There's still discomfort in recognising that disabled people have sex lives," he is quoted as having said in the piece.
"Softley Gale and his co-writers, Hana Pascal Keegan and Gabriella Sloss, aim to challenge audiences in the show which he is also directing. They hope to counter narratives around disabled people needing charity or pity, and instead show lives that are complex and nuanced," writes Butterwick.
To get the right solutions to uncomfortable questions, they have to be asked first. Theatre serves that purpose.
"I like the ephemeral thing about theatre, every performance is like a ghost - it's there and then it's gone."
Maggie Smith
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