I should never have let you in. I usually dont let people in.
Ash is off the rails.
Going straight from the sparkly sweat and tequila shots of the club to her first day of a new job, her new boss Lily is unimpressed. Their assignment: to catalogue historic cases of women accused of being witches. After an incident at work, Ash's boyfriend Dom enters the scene as a knight in shining armour, even providing Ash with the best present she could hope for: a pet rabbit. But as the women delve into researching a disturbing series of murders, Lily starts to get the sense that something is wrong with Ash. Or maybe, something is wrong with Dom.
An urgent new play by Sophie Swithinbank, Sting casts a scathing light on the systemic injustice that permeates the very institutions sworn to protect us. It is premiered at the Young Vic, London, in 2026.
Sophie Swithinbank is a playwright whose work includes: Sting (Young Vic, London, 2026); Surrender (Arcola Theatre, London, & Summerhall, Edinburgh, 2024); Bacon (Finborough Theatre, London, 2022; winner of Soho Theatre's Tony Craze Award); Circle Game (Oxford School of Drama, shortlisted for the Phil Fox Award 2020); Even In Arcadia (longlisted for the Verity Bargate Award); The Fellowship (Picturedrome, University of Northampton); Where There Is Smoke (National Theatre Learning); Come Inside (Bush Theatre, London) and The Superhero (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith).