CROUCH, TOUCH, PAUSE, ENGAGE Coming to Arcola Theatre

Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage - the critically-acclaimed play about Gareth Thomas, the first professional rugby player to come out while still playing - comes to Arcola Theatre this spring (20 May - 20 June 2015) following its current tour. Directed by Max Stafford-Clark, and written by Robin Soans, the play is a co-production by Out of Joint, National Theatre Wales and Arcola Theatre.

A cast of six play all the characters, and each plays Gareth himself at different stages in his story. Full cast: Rhys ap William, Patrick Brennan, Katie Elin-Salt, Daniel Hawksford, Lauren Roberts and Bethan Witcomb.

"I was doing something nobody had done before, and if you're the first to do something, you have to be prepared to take the sh*t for it."

On the eve of one of the most important games of his career, Welsh rugby legend Gareth Thomas received a warning: The Sun newspaper was going to "out" him as gay.

This is the story of two Welsh names bruised, but not beaten, by media speculation; Gareth "Alfie" Thomas, 100 caps for Wales, once its captain, now the world's most prominent gay sportsman; and his hometown, Bridgend.

Working with Alfie himself, and young people in Bridgend, two of the UK's most exciting theatre companies - Out of Joint and National Theatre Wales - have teamed up to tell a great story about sport, politics, secrets, life and learning to be yourself.

Writer Robin Soans is celebrated for his documentary verbatim plays based on interviews with real people, including Out of Joint's acclaimed shows Mixed Up North, A State Affair and Talking to Terrorists which was nominated Best Play at the TMA awards and has had subsequent productions overseas including in Tehran. Others include Life After Scandal about Christine and Neil Hamilton, and The Arab-Israeli Cookbook, which also spawned a book of recipes. His most recent play was the fictional drama Perseverance Drive, which played to great praise at the Bush Theatre in 2014.

Director Max Stafford-Clark co-founded Joint Stock Theatre Group in 1974 following his Artistic Directorship of The Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. From 1979 to 1993, he was Artistic Director of The Royal Court Theatre, after which he founded Out of Joint. His work as a director has overwhelmingly been with new writing, and he has commissioned and directed first productions from writers including Sue Townsend, Stephen Jeffreys, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Sebastian Barry, April de Angelis, Mark Ravenhill, Andrea Dunbar, Alistair Beaton, David Hare and Caryl Churchill. Additionally he has directed for the RSC, Sydney Theatre Company, New York's Roundabout Theater and most recently The Seagull for Culture Project, New York. His books are Letters to George, Taking Stock and Journal of the Plague Year.

The show forms part of a season of work about the state of the British media at Arcola Theatre.

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