Bent

Max has just returned from a nightclub where he picked up a gorgeous blond boy styling himself as ‘Wolf.’ His long-term live in boyfriend, Rudi, is unimpressed. But Max has had a good time: lines of coke, dancing on tables and a lot of exciting sex. There is a knock on the door – and the SS rush in to arrest, beat up and murder his date; for this is Berlin in 1934, Rohm has been assassinated in the Night Of the Long Knives and Hitler is setting his sights on eliminating anyone who does not conform to the Aryan standard of family morality.

From the nightclubs of Berlin to the horrors of Dachau, Martin Sherman’s searing play, Bent, explores the persecution of homosexual men during the early years of Nazi Germany through the eyes of narcissistic, hedonist Max who will stop at nothing to survive. When, after years on the run, Max finds himself in a concentration camp the plays asks this of him: can he finally put others before himself and commit to a political act which affirms his true identity…or is it too late?

Age guidance: 16+