About the Play:

Bedrooms has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Male Monologues and Female/Male scene-study showcases.

Bedrooms is a full-length comedy by Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna. The show is a set of five comedies that explore the uncertain journeys of love, marriage, fidelity and getting older. The audience is invited into a different bedroom as each story unfolds: a father on the eve of his daughter's wedding, a separated couple who meet unexpectedly, a man trying to put some spark in his sex life, two sisters-in-law rediscovering their friendship, and a widow and widower in a senior living center.

Alan, Betty and Riva: Alan is a podiatrist who is having an affair with his nurse Betty. Using his powers of persuasion he inveigles her into agreeing to join him in a menage a trois with Riva, a call girl who calls herself a sex therapist. It doesn't work out as planned. Betty gets cold feet and acquiesces only when Alan convinces her it will help him make the decision to finally leave his wife. Afterwards, Betty is depressed and, when she realizes Alan still isn't going to leave his wife, she threatens suicide. (Cast: 2 female, 1 male)

Bill and Laura: Bill and Laura have recently separated. They show up at the same dinner party with dates and come face-to-face in the bedroom where the coats are being stored. They immediately begin fighting. They go out to the party, but soon return looking for their coats, which are now buried. The fight gets heated as they criticize each other's dates and lives as single people. The more they fight the more they realize that their lives apart have been miserable. In each other's arms, they lock the door and throw the coats off the bed. (Cast: 3 female, 3 male)

David and Nancy: David wakes up with an anxiety attack, rushes to his daughter's bedroom and wakes her, certain there is a prowler outside. After she convinces him no one is there, what is really upsetting him surfaces. She is getting married in the morning and he thinks she's making a terrible mistake. He goes through all the reasons why she should not marry Martin, reasons so outrageous that Nancy just sits there letting him have his tantrum. His love for his daughter and sense of loss at her impending marriage that are the cause of his upset. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

Mr. Lewis and Mrs. Wexel: Mr. Lewis, a widower, invites Mrs. Wexel, a widow who lives in the same Florida senior citizen center, up to his apartment to see his fish. Is romance around the corner? He then tries to seduce her and though both are in their eighties, he pursues her as if they were sixteen. When she finally gives in, he's too tired to do anything. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

Nick and Wendy: A not-so- happily married couple check in for the weekend to attend a two day human potential encounter-type seminar. In five scenes that take place during the seminar's bathroom breaks, we ride the roller coaster of feelings they go through before ending where they started at the beginning of the weekend. (Cast: 1 female, 2 male)

Cast: 8 female, 8 male

Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna had their play Bedrooms appear on HBO in 1984. They co-directed, co-wrote, and co-starred, along with Charles Grodin, Demi Moore, Jane Curtin and Louise Lasser; and, it garnered the prestigious Writers Guild of America Award. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and has been performed in regional and community theatre productions with five different directors and five different casts putting on the play's different scenes. While it has a large cast, they are not required to all appear onstage together at any point. This makes rehearsals significantly less taxing than your average show.

About the Playwright:

Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna (1965-2017) collaborated on 22 plays, four films, and nine TV movies and series over 40 years. She is best-known for her Emmy-nominated role of Fran Drescher's outspoken mother on the TV series The Nanny. He appeared in more than 70 television programs and films during his 40-year career in entertainment. They co-wrote the Broadway hit comedy Lovers and Other Strangers, and received Oscar nominations for having written the film adaptation. They won an Emmy Award for their television special Acts of Love and Other Comedies.