Robert Farrar is the author of Relax, a gay play that has its roots in the classic French farces of Georges Feydeau and the anarchic humour of Joe Orton.

Relax is set in the Gemini Lodge Guesthouse, near Weston super Mare, where the kinky guest house owner has a habit of seducing his unsuspecting male guests, but the next morning blaming it on his supposed identical twin brother. 

We spoke to Robert about sex, writing, Cuban heels and which of his characters he'd shag if he had the chance.

Tell me a little about Relax. What can we expect?
Relax is a contemporary farce about a guy who runs a guesthouse but has difficulty accepting that he’s queer. He sleeps with his guests but the following morning pretends it was his identical twin brother. The result is a kind of gay Fawlty Towers. You can expect five genius performances and a lovely guesthouse set!

Where did the inspiration for the show come from?!
I have a couple of friends who are identical twins and they ran a hotel in Brighton for some years. I am also a keen B&B-er. Over the years I have sampled many gay B&Bs - Gemini Lodge (where Relax is set) is a distillation of all my happy and not-so-happy memories.

Have you had any hotel nightmares you’re trying to purge?
There’s a B&B in Bournemouth where breakfast is at nine. Not nine to ten, but nine. If you come down at ten past you get into terrible trouble. I stayed in a B&B in Devon where they served gourmet breakfast. There was a nasturtium on the scrambled eggs.

So how autobiographical is it?!
I’m afraid everything a playwright writes is autobiographical. There’s the part of me that has internalised homophobia, the part of me that wants to run round being a whore, and the part of me that’s shy and quiet. Perhaps there’s also a part of me that wants to fix people’s cars, but I’ll have to get back to you on that.

Tell me about the main characters – what are the major concerns in their lives?
Sandy is the proprietor – charming but frigid by day, jolly and seductive by night – then frigid again the next morning. Fred is the shy guest - he’s so naïve about sex that everyone in the play manages to seduce him. Mike is the RAC man. He’s recently divorced and feeling the itch to try something new. He’s heard stories about Gemini Lodge and figures this could be a way of dipping his toe in the water without much risk of exposure.

Bijan is Sandy’s new houseboy. He’s about 50 but thinks he’s 25. He’s actually on the run from his life – but I can’t tell you the details because it would spoil it. There’s also a mysterious woman who turns up in Act Two. And a dog.

"Everything a playwright writes is autobiographical. There’s the part of me that has internalised homophobia, the part of me that wants to run round being a whore...Perhaps there’s also a part of me that wants to fix people’s cars, but I’ll have to get back to you on that."

If you had to date one of them, who would you pick and why?
I’d pick the RAC man. In my experience men can be a lot of fun, at least for a couple of hours. They tend to be grateful and hardly ever whine.

The play’s themes are hidden behind a comic exterior. Why is comedy so good at exposing serious themes?
Comedy can sometimes be more profound than drama, because it can get in under your skin when your defences are down. For me, a play or film must be either funny, sexy or profoundly moving. I have to feel a physical response in my body. The one kind of play that I have no interest in is the drama of ideas and issues. Yawn! I would rather watch a stripper down the pub.

You’ve worked with James Holmes before. What is it about him that you like so much?
James is a very quick, intelligent actor. He goes right to the heart of the character and will sometimes be perfect on the first day of rehearsals. Plus he’s hilarious. He has played Sandy before, in Get the Guest in 2004/5. He plays him like a Coronation Street character. It’s funnier than anything I’d imagined when I wrote the part.

So how much has the play changed since Get the Guest was performed back in 2004?
Turning a half-hour two-hander into a full-lengther with a cast of five is a major project. At first I wanted it to be a bit pretentious, like a Pinter, but I got drawn more and more towards the fabulous farcical possibilities. It’s still a bit dark and cruel and mad, but that’s because life is.

When we last spoke you said that your writing had been “obsessed with sex and relationships since forever”. Is that still the case - should we be calling you the Tiger Woods of the play writing community?!
We live in a sexually hypocritical society. We think we’re cool and open about sex but we’re not at all. I would say the majority of men who have sex with men (and that’s a lot) are in the closet. And hypocrisy is a red rag to a comedy writer. I have a cousin who says I’d be a better writer if I shut the fuck up about sex, but I think the opposite is true – I’d be finished!

So what turns you on?
Sexually - Cuban heels. Men with brown eyes. Good legs. Emotional connection. Lack of emotional connection.

In general life - creativity, learning, growth, Borough Market.

And off?
Bossy bottoms. Bossiness generally.

Do you think gay men are obsessed with sex any more than their straight counterparts?
Don’t make me laugh!

"I have a cousin who says I’d be a better writer if I shut the fuck up about sex, but I think the opposite is true – I’d be finished!"

Sandy blames his indiscretions on his twin. What would you get up to if you could blame it on someone else?!
I’m getting up to it already - and hoping no-one finds out.

The PR for Relax says it’s about “post coital guilt” and “sexual compulsion”. Have you ever had any problems with either?!
I used to feel guilty after every single orgasm, but I think somewhere along the line I ran out of guilt. That’s the great thing about being human. Time heals all if you let it.

So what comes first for you – sex or love?
That’s like saying which comes first, pepper or salt? Pop them both on your vegan fry-up and enjoy!

As with Lovers From Hell, Relax has some hot promotion pictures! You obviously know what gay men want. Is it fun coming up with the ideas for the photo shoots?
Of course it’s fun, but I just want to share with you that it’s not quite as much fun as it looks. You don’t get to sleep with the model. Or at least, I don’t.

The play takes a look at the difficulties provincial and suburban men face in being honest about their sexuality. Do you think this will ever change?
There will always be different kinds of people in the world. Big city people are often here because we prioritise having a sex-life, whereas the out-of-town guys have made it a lower priority. Trouble is, they start to feel the itch at one in the morning and find they’re miles from the nearest blow-job.

How far have you gone to hide your own feelings and sexuality?
Well, I went to live in Brighton once. Does that count?

Do you go out on the gay scene very much?
When I moved back to London I decided to create my own scene with friends and other kinds of networks. And of course sites like Gaydar have so changed the way we meet people. The only gay scene I’ve ever really loved is Berlin. The gay men there think of themselves first and foremost as artists. Walking into a bar can be like walking into the best party.

When and where was the last gay bar you went to?
Last weekend I went to every gay bar in Brighton distributing flyers. The older Brighton gay bars are so fabulous. They have theatrical posters on the walls going back to 1910.

Can you remember your first date – where did you go and did you kiss later that night?!
The guy had a sports car. He was probably about 25 but I thought he was ancient. I don’t remember the precise order of events – it was a while back.

So what would you like audiences to take with them after having seen Relax?
The feeling of having laughed and of having had their intelligence flattered.

Finish the sentence: A good play starts with? …
Two middle-aged poofs standing on the stage looking at each other suspiciously.

And ends with? …
Forgiveness! For everyone.

What cliché most applies to you or your life?
“It’s simply because I’m the laziest girl in town.”

What’s in your closet?
My glam-rock past.

And finally, what’s next for Robert Farrar?
I’m working on a screenplay that playfully rips into the cult of Jane Austen. Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (who gave the world Party Monster) are attached to direct.

But first, a weekend in Devon with a brown-eyed man - I’m hoping he will bring his Cuban-heeled boots.

Read Our Lovers From Hell Interview With Robert Farrar »
Click to read our 2005 interview with the author where her talks about extreme states of erotic and sexual confusion!

Relax, by Robert Farrar
Warehouse Theatre
Dingwall Road
Croydon, CR0 2NF
0208 680 4060 / www.warehousetheatre.co.uk

12 March-4 April 2010