Ben Donaghy’s one-man show, BED, opens at the Camden Fringe next month and invites you on ‘a journey under the bedsheets’.
It’s described as “exploring the life of one person’s relationship to their perception of the world around them, BED follows the central character as they pack their life possessions into one box. This slowly starts to unravel to reveal a web of lies spun across several years, all pointing to a mental health crisis left unnoticed.”
Where: Hen & Chickens Theatre
When: 3-5 Aug
Ticket link: https://camdenfringe.com/events/bed-a-one-man-show/
Ben tells us more about the show.
What are you looking forward to the most at Camden Fringe?
I’m most looking forward to performing in London!
This will be my London theatrical debut which is very exciting for me and I hope it will only be the start.
The festival is also such a friendly and supportive environment that I can’t wait to get surrounded by.
Tell me about BED. You describe it as “following an unnamed character who transports the audience to various bed-related locations all over the world”. What made you write about this topic?
BED initially came about when I started to declutter my room back home in Durham.
I’m a huge collector of very unnecessary things so it took a long time, especially when I felt the need to reminisce on each of their origins, and I began to think about how the items someone collects say a lot about the kind of person they are.
It started to grow into something a lot bigger as I created fictional scenes about certain objects a character may have collected over the course of a relationship (partly based on an excessively detailed scrapbook from a trip to Paris with my boyfriend at the time).
There was a real intrigue for me when writing about this character. Why had they kept these things and what memories did they associate with them?
The idea of travelling around the world while being set entirely on a bed came after when I started to delve into an area of the story which will definitely classify as a spoiler…
You have played the show at Durham Fringe, and received the Golden Knocker Award for selling out your run of EVERJOY. What would you say to audiences to get them through the door in Camden?
My Durham run is very special to me because I’ve been with the Durham Fringe Festival since it’s start in 2021.
I volunteered with my best friend at the festival for 2 years before deciding I should make the leap and do my own show last year. And thank goodness I did!
The Golden Knocker Award came as a result of selling out my run, which was such a joyous surprise for me. It was a huge confidence boost that I definitely needed when choosing to head to the Camden Fringe.
For audiences deciding whether to come or not, I’d say you won’t know what you’re missing unless you come and find out. It’s a good blend of funny and sad, serious and piss-take and altogether a very intriguing piece of theatre.
There’s improvised elements, audience interaction, dream sequences, a re-enactment of a one night stand performed by only one person, and a story centred around Tracey Emin. Eclectic!
Plus I’m a student and need to pay my bills somehow!
You are playing the show at the Hen & Chickens Theatre. Has this venue influenced further development of BED?
4. The Hen & Chickens is such a fabulous venue, and I can’t thank them enough for all of their marketing and technical support.
I really can’t wait to perform there. It’s a very local pub for me, so it’s been lovely to get inspiration from the surrounding area while writing.Â
What’s next for you after Camden Fringe?
After Camden Fringe I’ll be going into my final year of studies at drama school.
I train at Urdang and have gained so much knowledge and expertise over my time there, so I can’t wait to see what this final year has in store.
In terms of this show, I’d love to take it a step further, whether that means going up to Edinburgh next year or getting it put on at a producing house theatre in London.
Either way I’m just so grateful for this brilliant festival and the opportunity to perform my little show to an audience of eager theatre fans.Â