Bacon

'I seen you looking at me. Like that. You gonna deny it? Go on. I swear down, Mark – deny it.'

It's Year 10's first day back at school. Mark is new and too scared to make friends. Darren is out of control and too scary to make friends. The two of them need each other – but neither would ever admit it.

Worlds apart, but more similar than they realise, the pair form a complex and manipulative relationship. And before they know it, they're embarking on a dangerous experiment that will alter the course of their lives.

Sophie Swithinbank's play Bacon is an unflinching and unexpectedly humorous look at masculinity, sexuality and power, through the dizzying lens of youth.

The play was first produced at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 2022, directed by Matthew Iliffe, before touring in 2023 to Riverside Studios, London; Summerhall, as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; and Bristol Old Vic. First developed on the Soho Theatre Writers' Lab, Bacon won the 2018 Tony Craze Award, three Off-West End Awards (Best Director and two Best Performance in a Play awards), and the Peggy Ramsay Foundation and Film 4 Award for 2023.



Sophie Swithinbank's other plays include Circle Game (Southwark Playhouse, shortlisted for Outside Edge Theatre Company's Phil Fox Award), Even in Arcadia (longlisted for Soho's Verity Bargate Award), Where There is Smoke (National Theatre Learning) and The Superhero (Lyric Hammersmith).



'A bleak but utterly compelling drama about the end of youth... a car-crash of a story, unfolding in a playground, that's both beautiful and devastating to watch... Swithinbank's writing is potent, with a sucker punch of an ending'



'Riveting... Swithinbank's writing is razor-sharp'



'A sensitive and dramatic portrayal of insecure masculinity and power play... heart-stoppingly moving... a fascinating piece of theatre'



'A punchy two-hander... tight and taut... a compelling, often frightening and occasionally warmly humorous ride'