Being different is a complicated business. It can be exciting, distressing, temporary, permanent, liberating, dangerous, painful, a cause for celebration. Anwen asked DAR Rogers about A Brief History of Difference coming to the Torch Theatre stage on Wednesday 17 September.

What is Brief Difference of History all about?

A Brief History of Difference is about the experience of feeling different and being seen as different – how that can be exciting, lonely, confusing, enlivening, dangerous. The show is about language and labelling, power and privilege, shame and belonging. It’s sort of about me, a 56-year-old, pigeon loving, Talking Heads fanatic. But it’s also about you. Existence is not an individual affair, after all!

Where did the idea come from?

The feeling that I am different in some way is the most enduring aspect of my sense of self. I’ve always been a deep thinker and feeler which has been a heavy burden at times, especially when I was a child. I’ve been asking the question ‘How did I get here?’ for as long as I can remember. The show’s foundations come from this desire to explore and to connect with others and find out what it’s like for them.

The show itself would never have come into existence if it wasn’t for the encouragement and guidance of my friend Gareth Clark (of Mr and Mrs Clark, now Das Clarks). A couple of years ago, I showed him some writing that I’d done for the heck of it. His response was, I think we could make a show out of this. It seemed like a preposterous idea at first, given my lack of training or experience in the arts or theatre making. But Ga had come from an untrained background himself and he’d made loads of great shows with Marega Palser and other people. So we got a lovely gang together that included director and co-creator Jo Fong, designer Becky Davies and lighting and tech wizard Ceri Benjamin. And we were off!

Describe the theatre piece in three words.

Curious, Connecting, Honest.

DAR’s motto is ‘There’s Still Time!’ – tell us more!

I came up with this motto around 15 years ago. I had a ‘good job’ at the time - nice colleagues, promotion prospects, excellent terms and conditions. But I was fundamentally dissatisfied as I had been for most of my working life. I was in my early 40s and I worried that I’d taken a wrong turn and was now stuck in the wrong life. I came up with motto ‘There’s Still Time’ and put it on a banner which I hung up in my house in order to encourage myself to act and try new things. It’s true, you know. There is still time. Right up until you die and then there isn’t anymore. So best crack on!

What type of audience will like A Brief History of Difference?

This is a hard one as I’m not from a theatre background and so I’m not sure what types of audiences there are. What I can tell you is that the people who have told me they enjoyed the show have been different to one another in terms of age, background, identity, that sort of thing. I think it probably appeals to people who, for a variety of reasons, have felt different at some point in their life and perhaps lonely or isolated as a result. I see a lot of curious and kind-hearted people in our audiences. But closed-minded and mean-spirited people are welcome too!

What message or messages does A Brief History of Difference convey?

Let’s see. That life is complicated and that people are complex and contradictory. That we should give ourselves and one another a break. That getting stuck is an occupational hazard for a human. That change is really hard, but possible. That small things can come to make a huge difference. That you need privilege to dream. That language – words, labels, descriptions – tell us what it’s possible to be. That dancing is a very effective way to shake off shame. That pigeons are lovely. Something along those lines.