‘Who said smashing things up was a bad thing?’

Three strangers are about to face their demons head on. Balanced precariously on the tipping point, they might just be able to save one another – if they can only overcome their urge to self-destruct.

Passionate, painful and playful, Stef Smith’s Swallow takes a long, hard look at the extremes of everyday life. The play premiered at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, as part of the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it received a Scotsman Fringe First Award. It was directed by Traverse Artistic Director Orla O’Loughlin, and featured original music by LAWholt.

'[A] bloody great bruise of a play which borrows, magpie-like, from Sarah Kane but which is always distinctively itself. It has a shard-like lyricism that tears through the heart. It finds the comic in the tragic... a shattering 80 minutes' — Guardian

'In a relatively short space of time Stef Smith has established herself as a remarkably diverse and elusive playwright… her most assured to date' — The Times

'Dazzlingly deft… there are so many reasons to love this piece… a must-see' — Independent

'Smith's script is dense with tense and memorable imagery… packed with powerful language' — The Stage

Edinburgh Fringe First Award