Under The Bed is a playlet shown as part of the Edinburgh Horror Festival. Once Luna discovers the ‘monster’ Nix under her bed, we see them learn more about each other and each other’s worlds. Alongside Luna, the audience discovers the peculiarities of ‘the underbed’ and sees both characters question what they had previously accepted as ‘normal.’
Both the play’s premise and its form were promising. Initially, the performance space was largely ‘on stage’ at the front of the room, but as the show progressed the stairs traversing the audience seating was increasingly utilised, as well as seats within the rows of audience members. Alongside this, as part of the finale, live webcam footage was projected onto the cinema screen — this multimedia approach had much potential. Together, these made for an interesting and uniquely interactive experience.
The premise was interesting, with many compelling ideas that showed promise, such as narrative choice to have character Nix rely on an ‘all-knowing orb’ magic eight-ball, and be continuously resistant to Luna’s assertion that the object is ‘just a toy.’ This was an interesting motif, and the character growth seen in the character’s choices and interpretation of the orbs’ messages was well presented by the actors.
The play centred around the idea of otherness, and what it means to not belong. Grace Ava Baker (who played Nix) convincingly portrayed naive curiosity when initially questioning Luna (played by Eleanor Tate) about the concept, and the character’s emotional outbursts when bringing up the idea of monsters later was an impactful portrayal of frustration and confusion in a manner reminiscent of how this can manifest for neurodivergent individuals.
Unfortunately however, this was limited by what I felt was more broadly undeveloped writing. Overall, the play seemed unpolished—the bulk of the dialogue would benefit from development, as the substance of the play did not have the originality that the stylistic choices did.
The humour would benefit from the understandably intimidating though beneficial choice to commit to authentic unique comedy—and little was truly unsettling except the realisation that the audience was suddenly being filmed and broadcast onto the cinema screen without our consent. While this has interesting potential as a formalistic choice, it could have so easily been executed in a manner more considerate and respectful of the audience. The choice appeared to develop upon previous fourth wall breaks and immersed the audience within the production. However, this had already been achieved by an uncomfortably small room where I felt involved in the performance with the pressure to feign laughter and conceal acute awkwardness.
An enthusiasm for theatre and passion to produce was palpable, and benefitted the production, but overall the experience for the audience would benefit from further considerations.
Image by Isabella Velarde, provided as press material