![\"Gabriel](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2_AMR_MEN_140525_JN_07.jpg\")
Gabriel Clark, with former Holby City star David Paisley and Olympic icon Matthew Mitcham(Image: Dawn Kilner\/Beehive Lofts Luxury Workspace)<\/p>\n‘I know for a fact that I could go on to Canal Street any night of the week and there would be people taking a range of drugs’<\/p>\n
06:26, 17 May 2025Updated 06:27, 17 May 2025<\/p>\n
Gabriel Clark, with former Holby City star David Paisley and Olympic icon Matthew Mitcham(Image: Dawn Kilner\/Beehive Lofts Luxury Workspace)<\/p>\n
A play starring a former Hollyoaks<\/a> star and an Olympic gold medallist set in Manchester\u2019s Gay Village<\/a> is hoping to open up a conversation about the city-borough\u2019s chemsex scene, which has been described as being \u2018close to an epidemic\u2019.<\/p>\n Involving people meeting up for drug-fuelled private sex parties, the practice is also commonly associated with members of the LGBTQ+<\/a> community, with the LGBT Foundation saying it involves ‘using one or more of three specific drugs (chems) in any combination’.<\/p>\n The practice has had a stark increase in popularity over the years, with one recent investigation<\/a> suggested that almost a third of all drug presentations at one of the UK’s busiest hospitals – King’s College Hospital in London – are now linked to chemsex through the use of drugs GBL\\GHB and Crystal Meth.<\/p>\n There have also been fears from police chiefs who have warned that statistics relating to the scene could soon be the \u2018highest on record\u2019. In 2023, police figures showed that chemsex claimed three lives a month in London alone.<\/p>\n \u201cI grew up amidst the AIDS epidemic and I feel that, really, we are now living in another epidemic within the LGBTQ+ community,\u201d theatre director and Queer as Folk actor Adam Zane tells the Manchester Evening News<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s been a lot of studies where Manchester has been identified as one of the fastest growing chemsex scenes in the UK, yet it\u2019s still something that a lot of people just aren\u2019t really talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s latest project is Jock Night, running at Hope Mill Theatre in Ancoats from May 20 to 31<\/a>, and features a group of men who \u2018navigate desire, belonging, and the cost of the lives they lead\u2019. They also just so happen to become involved in chemsex.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is so easy for people to get lured into this world full of temptation,\u201d he says. \u201cThe play explores some of the reasons why people might choose to get involved in chemsex, but I didn’t want it to be another gay play where people die and it’s just pure trauma and misery.\u201d<\/p>\n Whilst writing the play, Adam conducted interviews with members of gay men\u2019s groups and chemsex support groups to grasp their thoughts, feelings and attitudes on the scene – which all became integral to the script and the characters within it.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing that kept coming up was that people spoke about how they felt that taking the drugs often gave them a sense of worth,\u201d Adam explains. \u201cYou know, it helped their mental health or, it meant that, for those hours, they didn’t have to think about the things that they were stressing about. It\u2019s the same with alcohol.<\/p>\n \u201cI know for a fact that I could go on to Canal Street any night of the week and there will be people taking a range of drugs. It has certainly become more commonplace and a part of LGBTQ+ culture.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a friend who was virtually homeless and he was addicted to \u2018G\u2019 and crystal meth. In his recovery process, he got support from the LGBT Foundation and now he’s completely sober, he’s working in mental health and he’s doing really well. He’s come out the other side – but it isn\u2019t always the same story.\u201d<\/p>\n A report by the British HIV Association, which was conducted in 2021, found that<\/a> Britain had the highest proportion of gay men engaging in chemsex throughout Europe, with more than 32% admitting to have participated in the activity – a figure that could now potentially be higher.<\/p>\n The College of Police reported<\/a> at the end of last year that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in London had seen a dramatic increase in the number of chemsex-related offences it had dealt with from 19 in 2018 to 363 in 2023.<\/p>\n Here in Manchester, Reyn<\/a>hard Sinaga was jailed in January 2020<\/a> for carrying out 159 sex offences, including 136 rapes of young men, after tricking them into taking a date rape drug commonly associated with chemsex activities. Experts have previously spoken to the M.E.N about how similar drugs could easily be found on the streets of Manchester.<\/a><\/p>\n A joint survey by Channel 4, Buzzfeed News and the Terrence Higgins Trust back in 2019<\/a> also found that nearly half of GHB users had overdosed and passed out from the drug. A further one in four said they knew of someone who had died as a result of using it.<\/p>\n Experts and those who have had past experience of engaging in chemsex activities, both willingly and unwillingly, have been amongst those urging for action to help tackle awareness and understanding over the situation, whilst the cast of Jock Night also hope their production will do some work in that regard.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a community, it\u2019s something that really needs addressing,\u201d Adam says. \u201cWe need to be looking a bit further up the chain and look at how we tackle mental health and addiction in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Following a critically-acclaimed run in London, the Manchester shows of Jock Night will feature a varied cast, including former Holby City star David Paisley, Olympic Gold Medallist Matthew Mitcham and former Hollyoaks star Gabriel Clark.<\/p>\n \u201cI really didn\u2019t know much about chemsex before I started reading this play,\u201d Gabriel, who played Oliver Morgan in Hollyoaks from 2020 until 2022, explained.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s something that really needs to be talked about more – it needs to be discussed in Parliament. It is almost an epidemic within the gay community, a lot of people are dying because of this and we need to be looking more at what can be done to make it safe and to help people understand<\/p>\n \u201cI really do feel like, right now, we are running the risk of repeating history again if we just allow this situation to unfold where people have no one to ask for help or advice.\u201d<\/p>\n Gabriel says, alongside learning more about the chemsex scene, that working on Jock Night has also taught him more about himself and his own experiences growing up as part of the LGBTQ+ community, through speaking to his fellow cast members, which also includes James Colebrook and Eddie Ahrens.<\/p>\n \u201cMe and Eddie are very similar ages to each other,\u201d Gabriel explains. \u201cHe came out so much younger than me and it was so interesting speaking to him – having both been at school at the same time. He grew up in the south, I grew up in the north, but our experiences were almost so completely different because he was able to come out earlier and to be confident about it.<\/p>\n \u201cI came out when I was 20, which I think is so late. I was terrified to tell anyone until I had left school and was at university. It was only then where it felt like I could finally be myself. But, you sort of think, you can’t tell anyone because everything will change, and then you say I’m gay to someone and they\u2019ll go, \u2018All right, what do you want for tea?\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cMy hope for every LGBTQ+ person is that it should be exactly like that – it should be just so anti-climatic.<\/p>\n “Working on this show has just given me the space to have these sorts of conversations, it\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve been in a show where every single person is queer or part of the LGBTQ+ community.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, the significance of the all-queer cast was further heightened last month when the Jock Party actors met together for a photo shoot to promote the production that just so happened to take place at Beehive Mill in Ancoats, which is one of the original Queer as Folk filming locations.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a really extraordinary moment to walk into Stuart Alan Jones’ flat once again,\u201d Adam, who appeared in two episodes of the 1999 show and was one of only a small number of openly LGBTQ+ cast members at the time, said. \u201cIt was very strange for me, I spent weeks there when we were filming, it was just one of those full circle moments for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if it gave Adam stock of not only how LGBTQ+ stories are told today compared to back then, but also how attitudes towards the community may have changed, he says: \u201cI think what’s interesting is that the world is very different now.<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, we have PrEP, which has empowered people’s sexuality and protects people from contracting HIV. I think that sexuality has become something different. I think people are celebrating their sexuality more than back in the day.<\/p>\n \u201cI do sometimes think about the younger characters in the play and I think of when Nathan first arrived on Canal Street in Queer as Folk. If Nathan went to Canal Street now, there’d be a whole range of other things for him to consider and to deal with rather than just Stuart.<\/p>\n \u201cDoing the show in London, I had so many people say to me, even people who are part of the LGBTQ+ community, that there were things we were discussing on stage that felt like they were from a world they knew nothing about. It was like they were looking at a whole new world.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite being led by a LGBTQ+ cast and featuring a narrative from characters part of the community, Gabriel says that it is a production that anyone can enjoy and find aspects to relate to.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a play for everyone,\u201d Gabriel says before pausing. \u201cActually, maybe it\u2019s not a play for everyone. It\u2019s definitely not a play for my mum, because there\u2019s a few sex scenes and I\u2019m not sure I want my mum to see that.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s about friendships, it\u2019s about community, it\u2019s about belonging. There\u2019s a lot that is universal about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Writer and director Adam agrees, and says he has tried to ensure the show avoids falling into typical tropes when it comes to how LGBTQ+ people are often showcased on screen or on the stage – and he also hopes it will also give people a new understanding of the chemsex scene.<\/p>\n Adam explains: \u201cI did really think it was important for the play to show that there are those who do come through the other end of it, and there are also people who are still having chemsex but are navigating it safely and properly.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve sat through so many plays about chemsex and about gay relationships and a lot of them are just focusing on lecturing the audience or preaching to them about the tragedies of it all. Actually our community is much more than that.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are friendships and relationships formed at clubs, bars and chemsex parties, and that’s what the play is about. It’s about how people are searching for a connection in these after-parties. Hopefully people will come and spend an evening in a theatre with a group of funny, fabulous characters who all just happen to adore Barbara Knox.\u201d<\/p>\n Tickets for Jock Night, running from May 20 to 31 at Hope Mill Theatre, can be bought here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n If you’ve been affected by chemsex and want more advice or support, you can reach out to the Controlling Chemsex charity<\/a>, Narcotics Anonymous<\/a>, or the LGBT Foundation.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘I know for a fact that I could go on to Canal Street any night of the week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[8830,748,393,49418,4884,1983,8526,5763,2465,31228,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-108356","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-ancoats","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-gay-village","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-hollyoaks","14":"tag-lgbtq-rights","15":"tag-lgbtq","16":"tag-manchester","17":"tag-manchester-theatre","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114521828688611675","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Jock](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_AMR_MEN_140525_JN_05.jpg\")
Jock Night’s writer and director Adam Zane (left), who has previously appeared in Queer as Folk, alongside Hive North’s Mike Lee(Image: Dawn Kilner\/Beehive Lofts Luxury Workspace)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_AMR_MEN_140525_JN_03.jpg\")
The cast of Jock Night want to raise awareness of the chemsex scene in the UK, but in a way that people can connect with<\/p>\n![\"Ketamine,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_ket2JPG.jpg\")
Ketamine, methamphetamine, mephedrone and GHB have been linked with chemsex(Image: GM Trends)<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_AMR_MEN_140525_JN_06.jpg\")
Former Hollyoaks star Gabriel Clark looks miles apart from his soap character in the new Jock Night play(Image: Dawn Kilner\/Beehive Lofts Luxury Workspace)<\/p>\n![\"Jock](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_Hope-Mill-Theatre.jpg\")
Jock Night will be performed at Hope Mill Theatre, in Ancoats, from May 20 to 31(Image: Hope Mill Theatre)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_AMR_MEN_140525_JN.jpg\")
The Jock Night cast and creatives at a table read for the play(Image: Dawn Kilner\/Beehive Lofts Luxury Workspace)<\/p>\n![\"Olympic](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_AMR_MEN_140525_JNN.jpg\")
Olympic Gold Medallist Matthew Mitcham, who was the first openly gay man to win an Olympic gold medal in 2008, also stars in the play, alongside theatre star Eddie Ahrens(Image: Dawn Kilner\/Beehive Lofts Luxury Workspace)<\/p>\n