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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Pip Utton - Bacon
Verdict: Dark, thought provoking
Bacon is a one-man show about the life, loves and lows of tortured soul and artist Francis Bacon.
It's an intimate space, and Francis Bacon (Pip Utton) is sitting on a stool, preening himself. Next to him is a battered trolley littered with champagne corks, and a phone. It rings. He picks it up, and bellows 'Fuck Off!'
It's the start of a compelling, thought-provoking, unsettling journey. Pip Utton pilots a voyage through the gutters, sleazy bars, rough sex and alcohol of Bacon’s life.
It's embittered, outrageous and chaotic. There's his abusive relationship with his father. There's going to Berlin with his uncle - where he experiences the sexual freedom of the 1920s. And dying in Spain 'surrounded by fucking nuns' - a picture to conjure with.
There's an overall impression of loneliness, self-loathing, self-pity. There's seat-squirming berating of the audience. Abuse and violence are shown as normal in Bacon's life. The play highlights his pain and bitterness towards people he loved - who left him via death. There's his contempt for art critics with no idea of the meaning of his work.
There's humour - 'I'm dead, but I still masturbate', the conversation he has with Muriel Belcher, owner of Soho's Colony Club. There's wry wit - 'Homosexuality used to be fun, illegal - now it’s a disability, like a limp.'
Pip Utton is an extremely talented actor, full of passion and conviction. Like Bacon's art, the play shocks, transfixes - and surprises.
Cast Credits: Pip Utton
Company Credits: Writers - Pip Utton & Jeremy Towler. Director - Geoff Bullen. Technical Staff - Andy Ward. Producer & PR - Pip Utton. Company - Pip Utton Theatre Company.
END
(c) Lea Harris 2005
reviewed 19 August 2005 / Pleasance Below
There is an exhibition of Bacon’s work at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh until 4 September 2005.
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
