Cast and creatives announced for Bacon play in London, Edinburgh and Bristol
Casting has been announced for Sophie Swithinbank’s Bacon which will return this summer.
HFH Productions will present the production at London’s Riverside Studios (18 -29 July), Edinburgh Fringe at Summerhall (2 – 27 August) and Bristol Old Vic (12 – 16 September).
Winner of the Tony Craze Award, Bacon is an unflinching and unexpectedly humorous look at masculinity, sexuality, and power, through the dizzying lens of youth. Matthew Iliffe (Breeding – King’s Head Theatre), who received the Off West End Award for Best Director for the play’s extended critically acclaimed debut at London’s Finborough Theatre, will return to helm the production.
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 need each other but neither of them would ever admit it.
Worlds apart, but more similar than the pair realise, they form a complex and manipulative relationship that leads them blindly into a dangerous experiment that alters the course of both their lives.
Bacon is an unflinching and unexpectedly humorous look at masculinity, sexuality and power, through the dizzying lens of youth.
Corey Montague-Sholay (Wendy and Peter Pan – Leeds Playhouse, The Whip, King John – RSC) and William Robinson (Britannicus – Lyric Hammersmith, Julius Caesar – RSC) will reprise their Off West End Award-winning performances as Mark and Darren respectively.
Joining Iliffe on the creative team are Natalie Johnson (Rupture – West End Women and Girls, John & Jen – Southwark Playhouse) as Set and Costume Designer, Ryan Joseph Stafford (Weight of It – New York City Center, To Start With – Sadler’s Wells) as Lighting Designer, Mwen (Wreckage – Harlow Playhouse, Edinburgh Fringe & Turbine Theatre, Who’s Holiday! – HOME & Southwark Playhouse) as Sound Designer, Jess Tucker Boyd (Hakawatis – Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe, Nothing in a Butterfly – Omnibus Theatre) as Movement Director, Chloe Stally-Gibson as Production Manager and Ella Godbold-Holmes as Stage Manager.
Swithinbank said: “The murky and grey area of sexual exploration within friendships does not get wide representation on stage, because it is not a love story, and therefore has no specific genre. But during the run at Finborough Theatre, many people spoke to me directly about how much they connected with the story, and saw themselves in it. I am so thrilled that HFH Productions is re-mounting Baconfor the 2023 UK tour as it feels urgent and essential to share this story with audience members across the country.”
For more information and tickets, visit hfh.productions/bacon
Bacon was developed as part of Soho Theatre’s Writers Lab and first performed at The Finborough Theatre, London. The production’s return is presented by HFH Productions with support from HOME, Manchester.
