Written and starring Alistair Hall, a Patrick Bone Production in association with Pleasance:-
Photo Credit – Hazel Gaskin
Supported by the Estate of Francis Bacon, with rare access to archival material documenting the relationship between artist Francis Bacon and his muse and partner George Dyer
Buggers, a haunting new psychodrama exploring the turbulent relationship between artist Francis Bacon and his lover and muse George Dyer, comes to the Edinburgh Fringe this August. Written by and starring Alistair Hall as Francis Bacon, the production has received rare research support from the Estate of Francis Bacon.
Inspired by the volatile and often sadomasochistic relationship between the two men, Buggers imagines a triptych of moments between the doomed couple, charting their relationship from lustful beginnings to a devastating conclusion. Set against the contrast between Bacon’s extraordinary public success and the turmoil of his private life, the play examines a relationship shaped by passion, addiction, power and dependency, while interrogating the emotional cost of artistic ambition and the damage left in its wake.
Beginning in Soho in 1963, the play traces how Bacon, already a painter in the heady midst of international fame, became obsessed with George Dyer – a charismatic working-class East Ender with a criminal past. As Bacon paints Dyer more than any other subject, Dyer in turn becomes intoxicated by the whirlwind world Bacon offers him: booze-soaked nights, celebrity excess and artistic glamour. But as the relationship deepens, Dyer begins to lose his sense of self, increasingly forced into performances of masculinity and aggression that sit uneasily against his own nature.
As cracks in Dyer’s mental health begin to emerge and Bacon’s ego becomes increasingly impossible to bear, love and desire curdle into violence, resentment and emotional dependency. What begins as obsession spirals into a destructive cycle neither man can escape, leading inexorably towards Dyer’s death from an overdose of barbiturates and alcohol in a Paris hotel room in 1971, just days before Bacon attended the opening of his landmark Grand Palais retrospective. Publicly, Bacon appeared unmoved by the tragedy whilst privately, he was devastated.
Structured as a triptych, echoing Bacon’s own artistic form, the play unfolds across three fractured periods, moving between intimacy and rupture. Through this lens, Buggers explores how queer relationships in 60s/70s Britain were shaped by secrecy, shame and power imbalances.
The production offers a rare and deeply researched insight into one of the most mythologised relationships in modern art history. The Estate of Francis Bacon, historically known for closely guarding Bacon’s archive, granted Hall access to personal documents, letters and artefacts. This material has informed not only the writing but the performances of Alistair Hall and Peter Clements, who play Bacon and Dyer respectively, giving the play striking authenticity and psychological detail.
Haunting, psychosexual and emotionally raw, Buggers examines the fragile line between artistic genius and personal destruction, asking what is sacrificed in the pursuit of greatness and who is left to bear the consequences.
LISTING
PLEASANCE – Upstairs at Pleasance Courtyard
5th – 30th August (not 17th & 24th) – 13.20 (60 mins)
