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Summerhall, Cairns Lecture Theatre
Impeccably written and delivered, Bacon is an emotional tour de force. Powerful acting from the two leads take this piece to another level. Summary
Rating
Unmissable!
Fresh from the Riverside Studios, and before that the Finborough Theatre, Bacon has already amassed a number of outstanding reviews and so it was with some eagerness that I joined the maximum capacity audience at the Edinburgh Fringe.
As the audience enters, the two actors are already in place: Darren (William Robinson), sits confidently astride a see saw, legs swinging. Mark (Corey Montague-Sholay), by contrast, sits on the edge of the other end, facing the audience nervously. A foreboding and repetitive musical beat and wafting mist set the tone. Mark stands to address the audience; this is his story he assures us, one that needs to be told, and one that can’t be interrupted. Then the energy changes and both actors transform from older confident adults to 15 year old boys, at the beginning of the first term of Year 10. This is where the majority of the narrative takes place: both are painfully unsure of themselves in the way that only teenagers can be. Mark is a new boy in school, an introvert, desperate for friends, shy but keen. Darren by contrast is mouthy, cocky and over-confident, loudly proclaiming sexual success. He is regularly absent from school for one reason or another.
Bacon is an astonishing and impeccably delivered piece of theatre, under the precision direction of Matthew Iliffe. The taut script moves seamlessly between timelines, tracing the trajectory of horror and forbidden love in children when they are developing sexually and are at their most vulnerable. This period in the life of any child should lay the foundation of a safe sexual maturity, but playwright Sophie Swithinbank illustrates how lived experience can forever damage that.
The set is limited to a seesaw: central to the action and a physical manifestation of the constant shifting balance of power between the two. Mark and Darren are simultaneously drawn to each other whilst being repulsed by their attraction and co-dependence: both experience manipulation and need. One has the support of their parent, one does not. Their toxic relationship leads to violence and an act of appalling sexually degradation with permanent consequences.
The sadness of the ending is its truth: the damage that such trauma causes is permanent and will forever change the lives of those who experience it. Yet it is the character that has been violated that permanently relives it.
The combination of script, lighting and set design has produced an outstanding and touching performance. But it is the acting of both main characters that take this production to another level. Both transform from young adult to child repeatedly in front of you, never missing a beat.
Written by: Sophie Swithinbank
Directed by: Matthew Iliffe
Produced by: HFH Productions
Set and Costume Design by: Natalie Johnson
Lighting Design by: Ryan Joseph Stafford
Sound Design by: Mwen
Bacon plays at EdFringe 2023 until 27 August. Further information and bookings can be found here.
You can read more about this play in our recent interview here.
