Bravado

Scottee grew up around strong, brave and violent men and boys. Bravado is his memoir of working class masculinity from 1991 to 1999 as seen by a sheep in wolf's clothing.

Scottee grew up on a council estate in Kentish Town, where as a child he knew the inside of every pub. In Bravado he goes back to the raw, harsh days of that childhood - growing up among men who worked hard, drank hard and fought hard. He describes his first fight, trying to prove himself to tougher boys and experiences of domestic and sexual abuse. 

Scottee also grapples with the contradictions of being a gay man who is attracted to working-class men, but also feels scarred by the experience of growing up with them. Bravado was devised as a show that would be performed in typically male, working-class environments such as pubs, garages or changing rooms, and that would be performed by a volunteer who would be paid £100 for reading the script, and receive counselling after the show. 

Bravado explores the graphic nature of maleness and the extent it will go to succeed. This show is not for the weak-hearted – it includes graphic accounts of violence, abuse, assault and sex.