EDINBURGH 2023: BED Q&A

BWW catches up with the team behind Bed about bringing the new musical to the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about Bed

BED starts where most romcoms end, with the beginning of a marriage. 

Couple-next-door newly-weds, BEN and ALICE, are making their brand-new luxury bed which they’ve invested in instead of a honeymoon (something Alice May slightly resent) and looking forward to years of married bliss (BEN perhaps a little more than ALICE). 

A sung-through musical, this is an unromantic story about love. 

Most of the action takes place around the bed itself: twenty years of marriage, told through a series of musical tableaux, selectively depicting the highs and lows, the follies and the foibles, the passion and claustrophobia, the laughter and the dirty linen. 

The mixture of humour and pathos produced a very positive reaction from our recent previews with audiences at Brighton Fringe. 

What was the inspiration behind writing it?

When Tim (writer) and his first wife were broke and starting a home in the 80’s, they inherited a bed from his great Aunt. A bed bought in the late 20’s, a bed in which said great Aunt had died, and where Tim’s uncle was born. 

As soon as they could afford to, they replaced it with an IKEA futon, functional and lacking any kind of back story. Tim often reflected on the life the old bed must have seen; how the longevity of beds as family heirlooms was once the norm; but how, more recently, his children’s generation would never consider tolerating a second-hand mattress, however broke they were!

The emotional context of the story lies in a mixture of semi-autobiographical material, and the experiences of friends of our generation, coping, with various levels of success, with the pressures of modern marriage, separations (temporary or otherwise) involving children, and various kinds of compromise allowing love to endure. Tim and I (composer Alan) being of an age when our own kids are getting married or actively deciding not to, also gives one a certain perspective. 

We always relish a new challenge: in this case writing a sung-through musical.

We also reckoned that an intimate, domestic two-hander would be a huge change of gear from the cast of eleven, including actor-muso’s, required for SAN DOMINO set in an Italian prison camp for gay men in 1930’s Italy. (Tim & Alan’s most recent musical, Tristan Bates Theatre, London, June 2018)

We also thought BED might be a bit more affordable to put on!

Tell us a bit about the creative team.

Tim & I have been writing musical theatre together for around 10 years and have been friends for many years more, having played in a band together back in the 90’s.

Tim works full time for the NHS but has been always been writing in his (limited) spare time.

I am (semi) retired (from Finance) and I have been writing songs and playing in bands since I was a teenager.

We co-founded our production company TKD productions in 2013 and have been writing musical theatre together ever since. In addition to musical theatre, Tim’s work includes several plays including The Meaning of Lunch (BBC Radio 4), The Other Island (Etcetera Theatre), The Bench (INK Festival.) I also write and produce music working with various International Artists. (under the band names Time Waves and AcousticAl. )

Our Director for BED is Matthew Gould (bio attached) who has worked with us for the last 10 years or so on all our productions. It’s great to be working with Matthew again (after the Covid imposed recess.) We last worked together in 2018 on SAN DOMINO along with our rather brilliant musical director James Cleeve. We have a great creative working relationship and it has been wonderful to see BED come to life over the past few months under the expert direction of Matthew & James coupled with the enthusiasm and commitment of the cast and entire creative team in developing the show for Edinburgh Fringe.

We are delighted to be working for the first time with a wonderful casting director Jane Frisby who has many years casting experience in film and theatre and has a reputation for finding new talent… including our lovely cast Madeleine MacMahon and Drew Elston who play the parts of ALICE & BEN respectively. (Full Bios below)

We were lucky enough to meet our stage manager Trudi Licence at the Brighton Fringe. Trudi was working for the venue (Rotunda Theatre) and did a great job programming the lighting and helped operate our first preview. We asked if she would like to join us for the Edinburgh run and thankfully she said yes.

Who would you like to come and see it?

I think anyone who has been in a relationship will enjoy the show… as it covers a 20 year timeline with all the relationship 'stuff' that all ages can relate to.

The Brighton Fringe previews attracted a broad audience who really engaged emotionally with the piece….the feedback after the show was extremely positive ..including some lovely audience comments on social media:

‘’Really moving and just glorious.”

“Brilliantly observed, heartfelt and poignant,”

“Something to touch everyone.”

What are the hopes for the show after the festival?

We are planning to do a London run of BED as the next stage of development, probably with a slightly longer version. We believe the show would do well as a touring production given the story is so relatable and could easily translate for International audiences.

Edinburgh Fringe is such a wonderful opportunity to showcase new work and we are fortunate to have a couple of US producers coming over to see the show.

We are excited to be presenting this new production and hope audiences will come to ‘BED’

…. and enjoy the show.

Full Bios : (if useful)

CAST:

ALICE - Madeleine MacMahon.

Originally from Gloucestershire, she is a Max Turner Prize Winner, BBC New Comedy Award Longlist and Funny Women Semi-Finalist and ‘One To Watch’.

Film/Television includes: Eastenders (BBC); Doctors (BBC); The Freedoms (Amazon Prime); This Little Girl (BFI).

Theatre includes:  Breathless (Theatre Royal Plymouth/Soho Theatre/59E59); A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) (Silent Uproar/Tour); 21 Pounds; Cider With Rosie; Beatrix Potter & The Tailor of Gloucester; Great Expectations (Cheltenham Everyman); The Tempest (Creation Theatre); Petticoat Council (Warwick Arts Centre); Hush Now (Feral Productions); Mercury Fur (Middle Child); Kings; Kubrick3; The Dark Room (New Diorama Theatre); Into The Woods (Cockpit Theatre); When Harry Met Barry (Above The Stag); Jack & The Beanstalk; Peter Pan; Sleeping Beauty; Aladdin; Beauty & The Beast; Cinderella; Jason & The Argonauts; Dick Whittington; Hush Now (Hereford Courtyard).

@madi_macmahon www.madeleinemacmahon.com

BEN - DREW ELSTON

Drew is known for playing the lead role ‘Writer' in feature film Placebo (2022 Apple TV+). Drew won X2 Best Actor awards for this. He also plays 'Pelt' in feature film ‘Mercy Land’ (2023), Immune (2020), playing lead role 'Dr John O’Connor’- he was nominated for Best Actor. 'Brother Kost’ Star Trek - The Holy Core (2019). He also played Pilot 'Baines', alongside Daan Schuurmans in TV Series Turbulent Skies (NPO). Drew is currently filming as 'Arthur' in the action movie 'Buckle Up' alongside Eric Roberts and Michael Madsen.

Theatre Credits include KEY WORDS (Park Theatre), 13 (Jackson's Lane Theatre),  WITCHES JAUNT (RSC), MARKET BOY (Union Theatre), YERMA (Bloomsbury Studio Theatre & Hope Mill Theatre), BUNNIES & WOLVES (Brockley Jack Theatre), THE WINTER'S TALE (Courtyard Theatre), WHERE THERE'S A WILL (Stockwell Playhouse) SERENDIPITY (English Theatre Company), THE TEMPEST (Brockley Jack Theatre/Faction Theatre) INCARCERATOR (Criterion Theatre)

CREATIVES:

Matthew Gould – Director: credits include The Gulf (Tristan Bates), Adolf Killed my Sweetheart (ALL FM radio), Hello Norma Jean (The Park Theatre), The Glass Protege (The Park Theatre), The Secondary Victim (The Park Theatre), Pete & Keeley (Tristan Bates), I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road (Jermyn Street Theatre), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (The Arts Theatre), The Secret Garden (UK tour), The Anorak, A Body to Diet For, My Favourite Madman (all at Edinburgh Fringe), The Miller’s Wife (Arcola Theatre) and San Domino (Arcola Theatre & Tristan Bates Theatre).

James Cleeve - Musical Director: credits include: Yank! The Musical (Hope Mill Manchester & Charing Cross Theatre), Alice in Sunderland (National Theatre Workshop), Ushers (Arts Theatre West End), Avenue Q (Windsor Theatre Royal), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Arts Theatre), Cells (Metta Theatre), and tours of The Sound of Music (as Associate MD). James regularly MDs on the London cabaret circuit with singers including Dillie Keane, Liza Pulman, Rachel Tucker, Christine Bovill, Wendi Peters and Claire Sweeney. www.jamescleeve.co.uk

Jane Frisby – Casting: Jane has cast many feature films including the award winning 'Hear My Song'. Jane's passion is for finding undiscovered talent and giving them a break – these have included Jude Law, Tara FitzGerald, James Nesbitt, John Simm, Andrew Lincoln to name but a few. https://janefrisbycasting.com/

Tim Anfilogoff & Alan Whittaker - Writers Tim (mostly lyrics) & Alan (mostly music) are co-founders of TKD productions and have been writing musical theatre together since 2013.

Their productions include San Domino (Arcola Theatre & Tristan Bates Theatre) : A Body to Diet For (Edinburgh Fringe) and The Golden Age (Etcetera Theatre) Tim has also written several plays including The Meaning of Lunch (BBC), The Other Island (Etcetera Theatre), The Bench (INK Festival.) Alan is a composer and music producer working with various International Artists under the band names Time Waves and AcousticAl.

Trudi Licence (Stage Manager) : has a background in technical theatre and production. Her best-known roles include Stage Crew and Flyman on West End’s Hamilton (2022), Disney's Frozen (2022) and most recently Book of Mormon (2023). Trudi is also co-founder and Producer of DoDo DRAMATICS.

‘Bed’ is at the Gilded Balloon – Teviot – Sportsman’s at 2.20pm from 2nd – 28th August (not 14th & 21st) for tickets go to www.edfringe.com

Photo credit: Steve Ullathorne

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