Bacon at Rogue Machine

An unflinching and unexpectedly humorous look at power and sexuality, through the dizzying lens of youth.  

Mark is new at school and too scared to make friends. Darren is out of control and too scary to make friends. Worlds apart, but more similar than they realize, the pair form a complex and manipulative relationship. Before they know it, they're embarking on a dangerous experiment that will alter the course of their lives.

"Explosive production” – LA Times

“Bacon is about what happens when teenagers learn to bully and humiliate each other before they learn to love and accept themselves," says playwright Sophie Swithinbank. “Bacon is a relationship drama for the modern age.” 

“Once again, Rogue Machine stakes its claim as the indispensable haunt for discerning theatergoers. This is theater that doesn’t just entertain; it needles, it prods, it dares you to engage. Simmers with tension before scorching the stage with raw, emotion. Will leave you thoroughly singed—and perhaps a little brittle. A powerful theatrical experience…nothing short of masterful” – Stage and Cinema

Starring: Jack Lancaster (Darren) and Wesley Guimarães (Mark).

Sophie Swithinbank is a multi-award-winning playwright and screenwriter, based in London. She is the 2023 winner of the Peggy Ramsay/Film4 Award. Her play Beans won the 2024 Sonia Friedman Prize for Best Play, and her play Bacon (Tony Craze Award Winner 2018) ran at Finborough Theatre in 2022, winning four Off West End Awards. Bacon has toured the UK, Australia, Canada and USA. Sophie has recently completed an attachment at the National Theatre, with whom she is developing an NT Connections play. Sophie has two new plays and a musical in development. For Theatre: Even in Arcadia (longlisted for Verity Bargate Award 2020), Circle Game(SouthwarkTheatre, shortlisted for Phil Fox Award 2020), Where There Is Smoke(National Theatre Learning), Come Inside (Bush Theatre) and The Superhero (Lyric Hammersmith). For TV: BACON (development with NBC Universal), L/OVER (MTV Finland), Sting (development with The Lighthouse film and TV). For film: Body Brokers(development with Eleven/No Ordinary).

Michael Matthews recently directed the World Premiere of June Carryl's Blue at Rogue Machine before remounting the play at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the 7 Dials Playhouse in London’s West End. Selected credits include: Matilda, Billy & Ray, and End of the Rainbow at La Mirada, Failure: A Love Story at CTG/Kirk Douglas Theatre. At Laguna Playhouse, The Seafarer, 12 Angry Men, The Graduate (w/ Melanie Griffith), Funny Girl at 3D Theatricals, Sons of the Prophet (LA Premiere), Psyche: A Modern Rock Opera (World Premiere) Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers (LA Premiere), Very Still & Hard To See (World Premiere). Celebration Theatre: Cabaret, Dream Boy (LA Premiere), Bootycandy (LA Premiere), The Color Purple, What’s Wrong With Angry? (LA Premiere), Take Me Out!, The Women of Brewster Place, The Musical(West Coast Premiere), Stupid Kids (LA Premiere), Beautiful Thing, The Bacchae. Broadway: Butley (Assistant Director). International: Sleeping Giant and The Bacchae (Edinburgh Festival Fringe). Michael is the recipient of 2 Ovation Awards and 9 nominations, 1 LA Weekly Award and 2 nominations, 2 NAACP Theatre Awards, 1 Stage Raw Award, 3 Joseph Jefferson Award Nominations, and is the recipient of the 2015 LADCC Award for Career Achievement in Direction.