Alan Ayckbourn’s hilarious comedy, set in 3 bedrooms in 3 houses
Bedroom Farce is a comedy that contains a melee of events involving certain philandering characters, all occurring within similar moments of one another. Ayckbourn’s clever uses of time and space makes this a very intricate and sophisticated comedy while also portraying the deteriorating and rebuilding of relationships among young couples. This play explores the differences in relationships between the younger and older generations while capitalizing on certain unlikely issues that may strain the relationships even further.
I can’t remember if it was this play, but we had one very disastrous performance. At the end of Act One, Robin Pescod answered a cue with a line from the end of Act Two – and everyone followed suit, talking about things that hadn’t happen yet. I wrote a speech in the interval which, I hope, mode things more possible. After the interval there was supposed to be a ‘knock at the door’ by Robin; I was to open the door sharply and hit him on the nose. No knock came: after a moment I opened it anyway, to empty space; then Robin appeared – and clutched his nose as per rehearsal. The audience was bemused.
Geoff Guy