Described as a play for anyone who has ever let the powerful desires of the flesh override the emotional needs of the heart, we caught up with Jason to find out more.

Tell us a little about your new play, what can audiences expect?
The play is about the conflict between the flesh and the heart. They often want very different things, and they pull us apart sometimes until we are left with nothing. The focus of the play is Jake, he is in a very loving relationship with someone, but has reached a point where he misses his freedom and resents being tied down by someone who constantly looks to him for reassurance.

The play’s about what men risk to get what they really want out of love and life, and the explosive consequences of doing so. These are powerful themes. What inspired you to write it?
Lifelong dichotomy I suppose. You reach a point in your life where you think you have found everything you have ever wanted, but then you find that it still isn't enough for you. A part of you wants to go on a quest for more excitement, more passion, more choice. And you have to ask yourself what do I sacrifice, the love and security that I've found, or the voice inside my head that wants to take the gamble and ride off into in the horizon searching for new adventures?

Was any of it fuelled by autobiographical facts?
The characters are all fuelled by facets of myself and my experiences.

What does the title refer to?
It is a deliberate contradiction in terms. Skin is natural and God-made, so how can it be counterfeit? But what if something that you hold next to your blood, which you have always relied on to be real and genuine, is actually fake? What if you have been lied to the whole time by something you have always trusted to be there for you? Counterfeit Skin has lied between many of us at some point in our lives.

You've got some amazing press photos for the show. What was the thinking behind this?
Thank you, we have a great photographer, Karla Gowlett, who also did the shots for my play Steam at the Barons Court Theatre. I wanted the pictures to be a portraiture of the messy love trysts that the characters find themselves in. Oh, and also the bath…

I love that photo! Are gay men just suckers for cute men, or is there a hidden meaning?
I think water provokes a strong reaction, people often dream about it. There is a scene where a character is in the bath and thinks nothing of inviting someone he hardly knows to come and sponge him down. But more is revealed in that scene than just the bobbing of the duck!

"Is it possible for a man to stay exclusively monogamous with someone when lust is often a much more powerful emotion?"

You've said before that sex and nudity in plays often bothers you and that "if people just want to see a bit of cock they can go to a strip show." The pictures are obviously highly suggestive, so have you changed your mind?
It only bothers me if it is there for purely gratuitous reasons. Counterfeit Skin is quite a sexual play, so it was natural for the publicity photography to reflect this. My objective for the publicity shots was to show the characters in their darker sexual moments, but we also had to think about what appeals to the larger audience.

I am dichotomous about it all to be honest. We all know that sex and flesh sells. But I do ask myself how much am I ‘selling out’ the work by marketing it on these terms? Unfortunately if an artist wants to succeed in this world, he also has to be a businessman. Especially in London where you really have to compete for peoples attention.

So what about the promise of nudity and scenes of a sexual nature?
Well they are in the play, so we have to make it clear to the unsuspecting, or suspecting, public. That line works as both a warning and an incentive.

The press info says that Counterfeit Skin is a play for "anyone who has ever let the powerful desires of the flesh override the emotional needs of the heart." Why do men let their dicks rule, rather than their heart?
Because their genitals are on the outside so they always have to look at them. There is no escaping the penis!

The question is, is it possible for a man to stay exclusively monogamous with someone when lust is often a much more powerful emotion? As Jake says : ‘Sometimes when I look at Luke, who has been my lover for over three years, I can feel absolutely nothing. I know I love him but why does my lust for a perfect stranger feel a hundred times stronger?’

It also looks at temptation and deception. Are they mutually exclusive?
I suppose the word temptation implies that you have got something to lose if you give into it. It also implies something ephemeral that does not provide lasting happiness. In the case of the protagonist of the play, he gives into the needs of his flesh at the expense of his heart. Guys do this all the time, and it often leads to long term loneliness. Jake deceives two people who love him unconditionally because he puts his sexual fantasies first.

"There is a scene where a character is in the bath and thinks nothing of inviting someone he hardly knows to come and sponge him down. But more is revealed in that scene than just the bobbing of the duck!"

The play explores what men are prepared to risk to get what they want out of love. So, how far have you gone for love?
Love is everything to me, but I usually just hit brick walls, because of the all of the above. Cue violins and cellos.

After three years in a relationship, one of the characters Counterfeit Skin wants his freedom back. Can men be happy in long term monogamous relationships?
Well that is the question de jour, Stephen. Jake says something in the play which sums it all up I think: ‘If we were both eighty, and the biggest excitement of the day was the man from meals on wheels calling round, and the only thing rising was our Stanner stair lift, life would be perfect. There would be no more looking around for something better, no leching on tube trains or in chemists. No one else would matter. But we're not eighty, we're in our mid twenties, and I can't help thinking about what I'm missing out on.’

You've got a great cast for the play. Was it difficult to get actors to be involved with a gay drama?
I prefer ‘drama about gay characters’. These are all universal themes that everyone can relate to if they have ever been in a relationship. Most of the actors in the play are straight. A true actor is interested in the root and cause of their character's motivation, not whether they prefer hot dog or fajita.

How have rehearsals been going so far?
Amazing. I am really pleased with our cast and I gel really well with the director, Kirrie Wratten. She directed my play Rupture at the Kings Head last year, about a woman who has another man and woman living inside her head, talking of dichotomies.

What's you favourite thing about the rehearsal process?
Seeing my text come to life. Writing is a lonely process, it involves being holed up in front of your computer in your bedroom for days, weeks, months, years (I wrote Counterfeit Skin between 2003 and 2006). Seeing my words and my characters brought to life by actors in front of my eyes is the fulfillment of the entire process for me.

And the worst?
It can be quite emotionally draining. I put a lot of my heart and entrails into this play so to see it fleshed out before me on a daily basis can be gruelling. Especially the darker, more visceral scenes.

"I put a lot of my heart and entrails into this play so to see it fleshed out before me on a daily basis can be gruelling. Especially the darker, more visceral scenes."

So, what would you like audiences to take with them after having seen Counterfeit Skin?
The best plays for me are the ones in which you can see your own life in - theatre that you can relate to. An audience can address what is going on inside their head and escape from it at the same time through the journey of the people on stage. You come out of the theatre seeing your life through another perspective, which is what art is all about. Ultimately I want to provoke thought. The play throws up more questions about love and life than it answers.

And finally, what's next for Jason Charles?
Well, I have adapted aforementioned Rupture into a full length play, so the next objective is to get that on - producers, you know where to find me! I am also working on my fifth play, about the consequences of doctrinal injustice, a nice light hearted comedy, as you can tell. And there is also the question of my first play that I still haven't done anything with. And I really should do something with those novels I wrote. One is sort of fantasy novel for teenagers, it couldn't be far more removed from Counterfeit Skin if it tried. Oh, and to get some sleep!

Read our interview with Jason Charles where he talks about his previous play, Steam. Plus, why not check out our podcast interview with one of the cast, James Truman. Also, read our review of Counterfeit Skin.

Find out more at www.myspace.com/counterfeitskin and www.thecourtyard.org.uk.

Counterfeit Skin, by Jason Charles
The Courtyard Theatre Studio
Pitfield Street
Hoxton
London, N1 6EU

22 January-10 February 2008
 
Interested in queer drama? Then get Out on the Stage: Lesbian and Gay Theatre in the Twentieth Century online and save some money to out towards Something for the Boys: Musical Theatre and Gay Culture, Forbidden Acts: Pioneering Gay & Lesbian Plays of the 20th Century and The Queer Encyclopedia of Music, Dance & Musical Theatre.