Wee wee wee. Wi wi wi.

Introducing: Sophie Swithinbank

Bacon wafts through the air. Darren (Jack Lancaster) sits at the table of a cafe while Mark (Wesley Guimarães) stands by the kitchen holding a bacon roll on a plate — their favorite. He contemplates delivering the dish to his childhood bully. The memories flash before his eyes. 

Sophie Swithinbank’s “Bacon,” currently running at Rogue Machine Theatre this month, shows the budding relationship between two boys in West London. Darren bullies Mark, yet Mark stays. A friendship grows beneath the surface of the toxic relationship. Swithinbank captures how homophobia and toxic masculinity can impact the story of two people. Meeting again as adults, Mark must confront their history and decide whether or not to forgive his bully and abuser.

The idea of the play came to Swithinbank while reflecting on a bullying incident she witnessed in West London where she grew up. One boy humiliated another while the other kids watched as passive bystanders. 

“I kept thinking about that incident, and the scene in the play that is most representative of that incident is the scene where Darren takes Mark’s phone on the common and then makes him beg for it,” she said. “It is a manipulation of someone’s belongings and then making them be put in a position of powerlessness in order to get those things back.” 

From this poignant memory, she started to question what would happen if they met as adults. What trauma would it surface for them as men? How much does their personal background impact how they navigate their lives? 

“Bullying never comes from nowhere, it never comes out of thin air,” she said. 

As Swithinbank unpacked the relationship, she realized how close it resembled the first relationship at school she had with a girl. It was playful, yet toxic — mixing bullying with an obsession for the other. 

“Every single human is made up of a lot of light and shade,” she said. “So, I played around with these two boys and how they relate to each other, and like most of the time, teenage boys are just being stupid and silly together. It’s like life’s a game.” 

However, this relationship takes the game too far. She harnesses the boyish thrill of bullying and steps on the gas. When Darren’s life at home with an abusive father propels him to go even further with Mark, he sexually abuses the one person who accepted him and his faults. Swithinbank depicts such a sensitive topic in the play by approaching the assault with empathy and without theatrics. 

“With this play, it’s just that it happens and people see it, and that’s all,” she said. “It’s not like we’re trying to cover it up or show it off or anything. It happens and everyone in the room bears witness to it, and then we see how those two characters move forward.” 

It’s a weighty addition to the story that shapes the two boys grow into adulthood, especially Mark. In the final scene, as he stands in front of Darren with the bacon roll in his hand, something shifts within him. 

“That bacon roll in that final cafe scene is the one thing that Mark ever denies Darren,” Swithinbank said. “Everything else that Darren asks of Mark, Mark gives him, either consensually or not, and this is the one thing that Mark refuses to give him.” 

This final moment is a gut punch and Guimarães captures the weight of the simple refusal. It’s a tear-jerking revelation for Mark and the viewer. 

This Week’s Top Spots

‘Queering Digital’ @ Pacific Design Center

In response to recent anti-trans legislation, co-curators Jamison Edgar and Steve Galindo present an exhibition of fifteen artists celebrating transness. In partnership with the City of West Hollywood, “Queering Digital” explores how technology shapes the political history of queer, trans and non-binary individuals. Queer people have used technology for survival and liberation throughout history — from word-of-mouth newspapers to cruising phone lines. Artists like Amina Cruz, Vita Kari and Phil Tarley trace and reflect on some of these moments. 

LOCATION: 8687 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, CA 90069\
DATE: March 14
TIME: 6 - 9 pm 
PRICE: Free 
LINK: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/queering-digital-artists-in-response-to-anti-trans-legislation-tickets-1257576939479?aff=oddtdtcreator

‘Social Fabrics: Magic & Memory’ @ Rele Los Angeles

Rele Los Angeles presents “Social Fabrics: Magic & Memory.” The dual exhibition features textile-based works by Shinique Smith and Marcellina Akpojotor. Both artists use found objects and materials in their work. While Akpojotor collages patterned fragments of fabric, Smith incorporates objects collected over the past twenty years from family, friends and travels. The objects retain “the memory of what they once were, who they once belonged to and the story of their acquisition, but their purpose is absorbed into its new mission,” Smith said via email. You can see how their approaches to material blend until March 22. 

LOCATION: 711 N Western Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90029
DATES: February 13 - March 22
TIME: 11 am - 6 pm Tues. thru Sat.
PRICE: Free 
LINK: https://www.rele.co/exhibitions/80-social-fabrics-magic-memory-los-angeles/overview/

Tren Al Sur @ The Nimoy

Former Los Angeles Times art critic, and my former colleague, Carolina Miranda joins writer Raquel Gutierrez for a conversation on art, culture and movement in Los Angeles. L.A. Omnibus at The Nimoy puts writers, artists and thinkers together for deep discussions on social trends and their upcoming projects. For this iteration, Miranda and Gutierrez will read from memoirs-in-progress about their journeys through politically turbulent homelands impacted by cold-war policy. 

LOCATION: 1262 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
DATES: March 13 
TIME: 8 pm 
PRICE: $38.08
LINK: https://cap.ucla.edu/event/la-omnibus-march-13

‘This Place Reminds Me of You’ @ Bodytraffic Studios

Bodytraffic will offer three free evenings of dance at their studio in Koreatown in support of families impacted by the Eaton Fire. The evening will include a sneak peek into a new work by Bodytraffic company dancer Joan Rodriguez following his powerhouse debut work “Bloquea'o.” The program will also include staple works from their repertory. 

LOCATION: 3435 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90010
DATES: March 18 - 20
TIME: 7 pm 
PRICE: Free 
LINK: https://www.bodytraffic.com/performance-home-season/place

‘Coming Home: Angel Blue in Concert’ @ Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

This LA native soprano launched her career with LA Opera’s young artist program. Now, she returns to the LAO as a two-time Grammy Award-winning singer. Angel Blue will share an evening filled with opera, jazz, and gospel favorites alongside resident conductor Lina González-Granados and with guest appearances by Sacha Boutros and the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts Gospel Choir. 

LOCATION: 135 N Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012
DATE: March 15
TIME: 7:30 pm 
PRICE: $27 - $216
LINK: https://laopera.org/performances/2025/angel-blue-in-concert

Things: Museums Free-For-All

SoCal Museums’ annual free-for-all returns this Sunday. For a whole day, museums will have free general admission. Here are some of my top picks and the exhibitions to check out on the special day. 

• Academy Museum — Must See: “Color in Motion: Chromatic Explorations of Cinema” / PRICE: Free. RSVP in advance / LINK: https://www.academymuseum.org/en/exhibitions/current 

• Hammer Museum — Must-See: “Alice Coltrane, Monument Eternal” / PRICE: Free (As it always is, but worth the shout out). TAP card holders receive a 10% discount at the museum store/ LINK: https://hammer.ucla.edu/ 

• Craft Contemporary — Must See: “Ramekon O’Arwisters: House Of” / PRICE: Free. TAP card holders receive a 10% discount at the museum store / LINK: https://www.craftcontemporary.org/exhibitions/ 

• Grammy Museum — Must See: Mono To Immersive Experience Room & “RetroBlakesberg: The Music Never Stopped” / PRICE: Free. TAP card holders receive a 10% discount at the museum store / LINK: https://grammymuseum.org/exhibits/ 

• Skirball Cultural Center — Must See: “Siane von Furstenberg: Woman Before Fashion” / PRICE: Free. Advanced tickets to Noah’s Ark recommended. / LINK: https://www.skirball.org/museum/exhibitions

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• Critical Minded Podcast: The State of Criticism for Writers of Color (I’m the host!)

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