Bed and Sofa
by Polly Pen and Laurence Klavan
by Polly Pen and Laurence Klavan
Bed and Sofa is a whimsical three-character "silent movie musical" about a love triangle in 1920s Moscow, based on a scandalous Russian film.
About The Play
About The Play
Part of “In Their Place” – a three month season of work by women playwrights and composers
Nominated for five Off West End Awards including
Best Production
Best Director for Luke Sheppard
Best Female Performance for Kaisa Hammarlund
Best Designer for David Woodhead
Best Lighting Designer for Howard Hudson
The European Premiere of the off-Broadway musical Bed and Sofa with music by Polly Pen and libretto by Laurence Klavan, and directed by acclaimed young music theatre director Luke Sheppard.
Nikolai lives with Ludmilla, a housewife who stays at home dreaming of romance. Moscow has a housing shortage, so when Volodya arrives with nowhere to live he is invited to share the couple’s cramped quarters with surprising results.
This enchanting three-character “silent movie musical”, based on Abram Room’s scandalous 1926 Russian film comedy, is an elegant homage to the genre. Using some of the words from the title cards in the film and weaving these with new material, it’s a truly unique piece of music theatre that brings to life a ménage-a-trois with a twist. Played without an interval, its whimsical score and haunting libretto is at once both comedic and heartbreaking.
Bed and Sofa originally premiered at the Vineyard Theatre in New York, where it garnered two Obie Awards (including Distinguished Music) and seven Drama Desk nominations (including Best Musical). It has since been revived several times off-Broadway and across America. This new production at the Finborough Theatre marks the European premiere of this captivating and innovative piece.