User:LaDy HyPeZ

Decky Does A Bronco

By Douglas Maxwell

Created by Grid Iron, Decky Does a Bronco by Douglas Maxwell was a massive hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2000, winning a Scotsman Fringe First Award.

It toured Scotland in 2000, and both Scotland and a major tour of six English cities, in collaboration with the Almeida, including the Almeida at Coram's Fields, Northern Stage at Newcastle and the Oxford Playhouse. It was nominated for the TMA/Barclays award for Best Touring Production 2001.

Set in the summer of 1983 on the west coast of Scotland, Maxwell's play charts the dreams, passions and above all games of a group of boys who spend most of their time on and around a set of swings.

“To bronco a swing you stand on it, worky up to the bumps, level with the bar, kick the swing over your head and jump beneath it. It looks ace and makes a hell of a racket.” (Douglas Maxwell)

Decky, the smallest child, is unable to bronco and becomes the butt of all the boys' jokes, until an unimaginable tragedy overcomes them all. Eight actors - trained as acrobats - played out this powerful work of the perilous journey from childhood to adulthood in outdoor spaces across the UK.