Mon, 19 May, 2025 — Sat, 24 May, 2025
Directed by Robert Softley-Gale
A heart-warming comedy drama set in a Moroccan spa that explores the importance of touch and intimacy, especially for disabled people.
Marrakesh isn’t the most accessible of places, but that doesn’t stop Iain rocking up at his Riad, buzzing for his first holiday without a support worker.
But when Iain meets Zainab at the Sunshine Spa, an unexpected friendship blossoms – and Iain finds out that a guid dicht doon can be life-changing.
The Sunshine Spa is by writer Simon Jay, the recipient of our joint commission with disability-led theatre company Birds of Paradise, and will be directed by its award-winning Artistic Director Robert Softley-Gale.
In association with Birds of Paradise.
Writer: Simon Jay
Director: Robert Softley-Gale
Simon Jay is a comedian, writer and performer who has created several theatre shows, including the award-winning Trumpageddon, which toured in the UK and Australia. He has performed his solo shows at theatres including the Young Vic, Kings Head Theatre, Wales Millennium Centre, Hen and Chickens, Chrysalis Theatre (Milton Keynes), and The Old Fire Station (Oxford). Simon's collaborative projects include John Lewis: Never Knowingly Undertweeted (co-written with Ben Nardone, Drayton Arts) and Is He a Bit Simon Jay? (co-written with Scott Payne, UK Tour). His other plays include 4 Walls (Carabosse Theatre Co. Milton Keynes), Samantha Smith: America’s Youngest Activist (Scrawny Cat, Battersea), and 403 Forbidden (White Bear, Kennington). Simon is also the creator and editor-in-chief of Neurodiverse Review, a review site dedicated to supporting acts by and for disabled artists, especially at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Robert Softley-Gale has been a leading figure in the Scottish and UK arts scenes for over twenty years. His award-winning writing debut and solo performance, If These Spasms Could Speak, was a hit of the 2013 Edinburgh fringe and has subsequently toured internationally to countries including Brazil and India. He wrote and directed My Left / Right Foot – The Musical, which won a Fringe First and toured to Japan and ‘Purposeless Movements’, which he co-created with Rachel Drazek, was a sell-out hit of the 2019 Edinburgh International Festival. Robert sits on the Board of the National Theatre of Scotland.