Pinwheel presents Don’t Eat the Bed

Pinwheel returns to Fringe 2011 with a generic, mediocre, predictable, unsatisfying and cliché romantic comedy, which is totally and utterly blind drunk on surrealism. This new devised piece endeavours to ask what is truly at the heart of human love when it is stripped naked of its cliché.

When people hear the term ‘rom-com’ there is usually a bit of a cringe factor or a guilty pleasure associated with the genre. Pinwheel spent a lot of time researching the storylines and light-hearted commonalities in romantic comedy films. They also sought to figure out what exactly it is that compels people to keep watching, and why this genre continues to remain so commercially successful. As much as people love to hate these films, there is an undeniable satisfaction in the way that the audience gets exactly what they want and everything gets sewn up so perfectly at the end.

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Don’t Eat the Bed aims not to parody a genre but to deconstruct it; to find what the real purpose and effect of it is, and amplify it. “It’s easy to poke fun at something through silly imitation, we have a more productive and affecting insight in mind” says McGrath. The process of deconstructing a whole genre has been hugely exciting and rewarding, but with such a wide scope and long history, exceedingly difficult. “We’ve spent long hard hours watching the most definitive and most obnoxious of the romantic comedy genre and we think we’ve got a fairly comprehensive understanding.”

“It is when you are really limited, and have a difficult challenge ahead of you, that the unique and unexpected ideas come out. It is in the essence of the DIY nature of theatre, and deeply rooted in the culture of New Zealand” says Director Thomas McGrath of the strict creative limitations and goals of the show. The effect of every aspect has been considered in this production. “The genre has provided us with the what, and it has been our job to find the how; we’re going to see how far we can push it. I’m definitely excited” says McGrath.

BATS theatre will come alive with sickly sweet love this fringe. Come and get your heart smashed, then lovingly and inventively glued back together. Join us for the feel good romantic comedy of the summer! Then we’ll smoke some crack!

Don’t Eat the Bed
Where: BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Terrace, Wellington
When: 6:30pm, Mon 28th Feb - Fri 4th March
Tickets: $16 General, $14 Concession, $12 Fringe Addict
Book at: book@bats.co.nz
(04) 802 4175

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