The Borrowed Room at Summerhall, Edinburgh

The Borrowed Room is a new queer Scottish chamber play performed by two actors in real time. Presented as a staged development performance.

Set in a public library meeting room in a remote coastal town, the play follows two men who grew up together as they meet to record a conversation about why some people leave small places and others stay.

What begins as shared memory becomes a tense and moving reckoning with masculinity, shame, sexuality, silence and belonging.

Performed by Sean Connor and Craig Hunter, and directed by Sam Pitcher, The Borrowed Room is an intimate new work about the stories people tell, the ones they avoid, and what it costs to finally speak.

Although fictional, the play is informed by research and shaped by queer experiences of growing up, leaving, returning and navigating shame in small Scottish communities. It addresses themes of homophobia, religious shame and conversion practice, while centring voice, memory and resilience.