Mother is in prison. Daughter has come to visit. Closely watched by security personnel, they have 1 hour.
A trained actor, and quick-witted Mother tries to keep things light… but the darkness rises up around them as they are forced to confront the disorienting series of events that led them here. Surrender takes us on the blurry and sleep-deprived journey of a flawed woman trying to survive in a punishing and dysfunctional system that has separated her from her daughter. Thirteen years later, they have forgotten how to love each other… and this is their last chance to connect.
Surrender is the result of a collaboration between Writer Sophie Swithinbank and Director/Performer Phoebe Ladenburg. Drawing on Phoebe’s early experiences as a mother, Surrender investigates Kate’s journey of submission in Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, not through the lens of marriage, but through the lens of motherhood.
Written by Sophie Swithinbank following the success of her multi award-winning and Edinburgh sell-out play, BACON.
Post Show Q&A: The Making of Surrender – Thursday 11th July
Join us for a post-show discussion with the creators of Surrender: Writer & Co-director Sophie Swithinbank and Performer & Co-director Phoebe Ladenburg, chaired by Hannah Farley-Hills from HFH Productions.
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Running time
75 minutes -
Age guidance
14+ -
Content warnings
"As enraging as it is engrossing"
"A sharp, witty and effortlessly natural monologue... each line seems to trickle down from her brain and into ours"
"Ladenburg’s stage presence captivates the audience, even in silence. Her humour provides light relief at key moments, and her gentle yet probing connection with the audience provides much to think about"
"Ladenburg delivers a raw and emotional performance that lays bare the struggles of a mother on the brink"
"There’s plenty of food for thought"
"It is a theatrical thrill to see a team at the top of their game. Surrender is a big win"
Production photos
The Company
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Phoebe Ladenburg
Performer and Co-Director
Phoebe Ladenburg
Performer and Co-Director
Phoebe Ladenburg is a multi-award-winning actor, director and theatre maker. Her directing/ dramaturgy credits include Clown Sex for stage and audio (nominated for two Off West End Awards, Vault Festival People’s Choice and winner of an Independent Podcast award), The Journey (4*, Pleasance Theatre), The Bacchanals (4*, Mikra Theatricals), Bacon (Clapham Omnibus, Arcola Theatre, Nick Hern Books), The Superhero (Lyric Hammersmith) and Hot Wheels (British Youth Music Theatre). Her acting credits include Baby Shower (Turtle Canyon), Passing (Bunker Theatre) and Nine Weeks (Arts Theatre). Her performance as Linda in Tuesday (White Bear, Nick Hern Books) won critical acclaim. She won Best Actress at the 2024 Tokyo International Short Film Festival and was nominated for the Spotlight Prize in 2015.
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Sophie Swithinbank
Writer and Co-Director
Sophie Swithinbank
Writer and Co-Director
Sophie Swithinbank is a multi-award-winning playwright and screenwriter, based in London. She is the 2023 winner of the Peggy Ramsay/Film4 Award. Sophie’s play Bacon (Tony Craze Award Winner 2018) ran at Finborough Theatre in 2022, to critical acclaim, winning three Off West End Awards. Bacon toured the UK, Melbourne and New York in 2023–24. Sophie is currently on attachment at the National Theatre, developing a new play, Beans.
For theatre her credits include Even in Arcadia (longlisted for Verity Bargate Award 2020), Circle Game (Southwark Theatre, shortlisted for Phil Fox Award 2020), Where There Is Smoke (National Theatre Learning), Come Inside (Bush Theatre) and The Superhero (Lyric Hammersmith).
For TV: BACON (developed with NBC Universal) and L/OVER (MTV Finland).
For film: Body Broker (developed with Eleven/No Ordinary).
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Hannah Farley-Hills for HFH Productions
Producer
Hannah Farley-Hills for HFH Productions
Producer
HFH Productions is an award winning production company run by UK-based indie Theatre Producer, Hannah Farley-Hills. The company develops, mounts and tours theatrical productions nationally and internationally across both the subsidised and commercial sectors, showcasing drama and new writing that is bold, actively challenging and memorable. Hannah is passionate about collaboration that champions underrepresented perspectives and untested ideas. She believes a good play leaves you with more questions than it answers, things you should still be questioning in a week, a month, a year.
Over the last 10 years, Hannah has worked on just shy of 35 professional productions both for organisations and independently, managed 7 Edinburgh fringe shows, 10 national tours and 2 international transfers, including Bacon by Sophie Swithinbank which did a 4 week run at Soho Playhouse in New York in January 2024. In 2023, Hannah was Associate Producer to international production company, Glynis Henderson Productions, working on Fix + Foxy’s Dark Noon. Prior to that, Hannah was Associate Producer to London new writing company, Arch 468, and an in-house Producer at leading regional venue, The Marlowe. Hannah is also currently Executive Producer of early years and disability specialist theatre company, Toucan Theatre.
Hannah received the Stage One Bursary in October 2020 and is an MGCfutures Bursary recipient. Hannah is a member of the League of Independent Producers.
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Nancy Medina
Director Associate
Nancy Medina
Director Associate
Nancy Medina is Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic, taking the role in 2023. In Oct 2023 she directed her first production for the theatre, a revival of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy. As a director, her credits include The Darkest Part of the Night (Kiln Theatre), Moreno (Theatre503), Trouble in Mind (National Theatre), The Half God Of Rainfall (Fuel / Birmingham Rep / Kiln Theatre) The Laramie Project (Bristol Old Vic Theatre School), Two Trains Running (Royal & Derngate / ETT / RTST), Strange Fruit (Bush Theatre), Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama), When They Go Low (NT Connections / Sherman Theatre), Yellowman (Young Vic), Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It (GB Theatre), Curried Goat And Fish Fingers (Bristol Old Vic), Dogtag (Theatre West), Strawberry & Chocolate, Dutchman (Tobacco Factory Theatres) and Persistence Of Memory (Rondo Theatre). She is a recipient of the following awards – 2024 Genesis Foundation Prize, 2020/2021 Peter Hall Bursary (National Theatre), 2018 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award (Royal & Derngate/English Touring Theatre), 2017 Genesis Future Director Award (Young Vic) and 2014 Emerging Director’s Prize (Tobacco Factory Theatres). She was a visiting director at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and was joint Artistic Director and founder of the Bristol School of Acting.
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Alan Harford
Graphic Designer
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Rose Hockaday
Stage Manager
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Stacey Nurse
Lighting Designer
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Pam Tait
Costume Designer
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Dominic Brennan
Sound Designer
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Jess Tucker Boyd
Movement Director