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PIG
September 13 - October 6

“hard hitting, grotesque and breathtakingly poetic and elegant all at the same time”

— Lynn Slotkin

How far would you go for love? PIG follows three gay couples as they stretch the boundaries of their relationships in the quest for deeper levels of intimacy. Through acts of emotional domination, sexual submission, compulsion, and violence, these men delve into the space where the lines between shame, hatred, love, and obsession cease to exist. A provocative account of contemporary sexuality told by UK writer Tim Luscombe.

In the tradition of “in-yer-face theatre” (pioneered by writers such as Sarah Kane and Tracy Letts), Luscombe offers a raw and confrontational take on sex and love, in a world where sexual liberation and new technologies allow us to explore the furthest limits of our carnal desires.

The play casts its three actors as a series of men striving to achieve deeper levels of physical and emotional intimacy in their relationships. From a couple struggling to maintain a monogamous ‘traditional’ marriage to a pair of sex workers caught in an abusive relationship and a sadist seeking increasingly brutal encounters with his partners, these men find themselves caught in webs of addiction, domestic abuse, prostitution, violent sex, and sexual violence. As the lives of these characters begin to intersect and overlap, the line between romantic ideal and addictive hell ceases to exist and the audience is asked to consider whether the even most horrifying acts can be expressions of love.

Much like the revolutionary works of The Marquis de Sade and Anne Desclos’ The Story of O, PIG presents a brazen look at our darkest physical impulses and stretches our understanding of sexuality, power, violence, and love.

 photo by Tanja-Tiziana

 

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre proudly presents the World Premiere of

PIG

by Tim Luscombe
directed by Brendan Healy
starring Bruce Dow, Paul Dunn and Blair Williams
set & costumes James Lavoie
lighting design Rebecca Picherak
sound design Antoine Bedard

photos by Jeremy Mimnagh

NNNN (out of 5) “Under Healy’s firm direction, the various levels of fiction and reality create lots of tension… and Healy gets strong, brave performances from his actors”

GELNN SUMI, NOW MAGAZINE

“hard hitting, grotesque and breathtakingly poetic and elegant all at the same time”
LYNN SLOTKIN, CIUT

“a highly literary piece, sumptuously written, dealing with subject matter that could be considered shocking, but is really just ahead of its time

DREW ROWSOME, MY GAY TORONTO

“a work that pushes the boundaries of theatre and concepts of sexuality”

BRIAN CAULEY, TORONTO SOCIAL REVIEW

“This is an important groundbreaking work, a milestone in queer theatre, that provokes and challenges like good theatre should provoke

BOB LEAHY, POSITIVE LITE