THE Hoarder is the debut project by Yorkshire newcomers Sticks Theatre Company, whose artistic director Adam Sunderland has regularly made his mark at the Stephen Joseph Theatre.

Among his past shows in Scarborough have been Cinderella, The Nutcracker Prince and The Hunt For The Scroobious Pip and his memorable Northern Broadsides children’s theatre piece Heidi…A Goat’s Tale.

Now Adam has teamed up with physical theatre director David Glass and composer and musician Jenni Molloy to mount the Scarborough world premiere of The Hoarder from Wednesday to Saturday.

The play has been devised by Sunderland and Glass from the true story of Richard Wallace, a chronic hoarder whose behaviour is endangering his own life, and Andy Honey, a landscape gardener who slowly gains his trust.

“The Hoarder delves into loneliness, materialism, tolerance and, above all, what great things can be achieved when humans connect,” summarises Adam.

Richard Wallace’s story was first the subject of a Channel 4 documentary, Compulsive Obsessive Hoarder: The Big Clear Out in 2011.

“Initially I approached the documentary makers, who held the rights to the title but said that if I changed the title, I could use the story, as you can’t copyright Richard’s story,” says Adam.

The Arts Council agreed to fund the play, provided Adam gained permission from Andy and Richard. “So I met Andy in Guildford when I was Alan Ayckbourn’s associate director for his Surprises play at the Yvonne Arnaud, and Andy was more than happy to help as he’s sold his gardening business and now specialises in helping hoarders,” he says.

Andy lives near Dorking; Richard in Westcott. “It’s the only village in the country with a thatched bus shelter – it’s absolutely Surrey at its most extreme!” says Adam.

“Richard has so much rubbish – 30 tons of it – that you can see it from space, but though we call it rubbish, is it rubbish in this throwaway society?”

Hoarding is at present the subject of Channel 4’s The Hoarder Next Door, now in its second documentary series on Wednesday nights at 11pm, and next month it will become an official disorder, known as hoarding, when previously it was bracketed with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).

“A lot of research has come out since the original programme on Richard, and hoarding doesn’t quite fit into the OCD category. You can’t treat it with drugs, but cognitive behavioural therapy is the best thing to treat it with, and Richard has been open to that,” says Adam.

“I’m using that information as background to a story of friendship, a love story if you like, where this guy reaches out and connects, rather than the hoarder being a To Kill A Mockingbird-like hermit.

“What we’ve said is that the play is inspired by Richard and Andy’s story, adding a bit of artistic licence, so I haven’t done a lot of research in to the specifics of Richard’s life, just into hoarding.

“It’s a very stylised piece and within that, it breaks out of naturalism and documentary into being a total theatre experience”.

Adam describes himself as being a “big fan of poor theatre”, not as in poor-quality theatre but theatre made on a low budget. “That’s partly because of the climate we’re in now, so we have a minimal set, which totally fits in with the ‘poor theatre’ concept,” he says.

“Rather than having a £13,000 set, we de-clutter the performance. The rehearsal process has been about eradicating what’s not needed. So it’s about precision; being very pure. To get a sense of clutter, you can rely on the actors.

That task will go to co-director David Glass in the role of Richard and Leigh Symonds as Andy. “They create clutter of the imagination and the play is as big as everyone’s imagination,” says Adam.

“We began rehearsals on April 15 with nothing – no script – creating the play through improvisation, and we’ve had musician Jenni Molloy in on every rehearsal, which is such a luxury, so that we can also create clutter that’s aural.”

Adam stresses that The Hoarder is “not a freak show”. “It’s about raising the profile of hoarding and is a metaphor for us all having that instinct in us, such as hoarding books,” he says.

The show’s funding covers the Scarborough premiere but Adam’s dream is to mount a tour next spring. “The aim is get interest to take it on the road as the story deserves it,” he says.

Should you be wondering why Adam’s now company is called Sticks Theatre Company, let him explain. “I was introduced to the ‘sticks’ technique of rehearsals by David Glass 20 years ago, when I was working on a production of Gormenghast. That’s where we met and David has used me several times as an actor since then.

“He had used this technique at Le Coq in Paris and I’m now part of a line of actors and directors keeping it alive,” he says.

“What happens is we throw sticks and bamboo canes around the rehearsal room. Now I’m beginning to be known as the ‘stickman’, so it made sense to call the company Sticks – which is a name that sticks in the memory and is a nod to the language of hard consonants and piston-like northern grit of a Yorkshire company.”

Sticks Theatre Company presents The Hoarder at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, from Wednesday to Saturday, 7.45pm plus 1.45pm, Thursday and 2.45pm, Saturday. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com

Hoarder Richard Wallace and landscape gardener Andy Honey, who helped him sort out his life and now acts as a consultant for others with hoarding problems, will attend a post-show discussion on Thursday.