Just what else can you do with a bed? Bedtime Stories brings nine short vignettes that aim to explore just that. Bickering couples, a nervous salesman and an unfortunate wolf all manage at different times to re-frame the purpose of that most important piece of furniture found in every home.The broadly loopy pieces, written by the performers, are just long enough for a single themed joke in each. In a case of misplaced intentions, a family surprises their son in bed for his birthday but mistake the car magazine in his hand to be pornography. The drippy, liberal parents drag out the euphemisms; 'flogging the bishop' 'Choking the Chicken' 'Stroking the dolphin', turning themselves on to the embarrassment of all. In another, a middle aged misogynist cites women's many faults from the enormous carbon footprint of their bra burning conflagrations of the 60's to their inability to solve a problem without talking about it for hours and having a good cry. There's titters, a few guffaws at lines but not a lot of laughter.Common to these clunky pieces are the dribbling endings lacking a 'button' to cleanly segue to the next. Luckily the audience is rescued from staring blankly at the performers at the end of each by the lights cutting out in time. It is said that writing short scenes that work is a difficult task and this group provides ample evidence to show how true that is. Notwithstanding some hammy acting (the grandmother, the hooker, wives) and frequent sound and light miscues, a few good ideas manage to get tossed up out of the flotsam. In one straight scene, a couple delight in the easy way they can shut people out of their lives with the press of a button. The snooze button and cell phone off-button provide certain liberty. But with this they ponder the consequences of ignoring, of shutting others out, of not taking responsibility. Yet another posits a funny question; just what did the Big Bad Wolf do while waiting for Red Riding Hood to turn up? I always assumed he practiced being Granny, but here we find a few quirky alternatives.The actors playing the wolf and the misogynist are the bright sparks here but not enough to put a fire under the group, despite plenty of enthusiasm from all. The reason clearly being that the show, billed as 'British Writers in their Element', resorts largely to elemental, clichéd comedy. There's a lot more you can do with a bed.
