Bonfire

Leon’s gone live. Stood in his Nana’s lounge, wearing his favourite cardigan, blasting the Sugababes, Leon’s determined to confront the demons of his past; both digital and physical. ‘BONFIRE’ follows a young gay man from Derbyshire’s journey through adolescence. Like ‘Easy A’ meets ‘It’s A Sin’, Leon stitches together a narrative of his family, friends & secrets, hurtling us back to the dial-up internet era and forward again, as he learns to celebrate his future.

‘I really remember when I was 9 walking with my Nana, I saw a bull try and mount another bull and looking back I think that might be the closest we’ve ever had to a gay love story round here.’

Through pop music, movement & playful storytelling Bonfire is a monologue-megamix written by Sheffield-based playwright Simon Marshall(The Fossil Kids) on reclaiming queer identity and resisting shame. The piece is inspired by Bernardo’s 2016 ‘Not on the Radar’ report and consultation with Derbyshire LGBT+.

Bonfire's 2022 work in progress performance was described as ‘honest, brave, acutely-written and often sharply funny’ by critic Lyn Gardner.