ART’s The Bed Trick: The Classics and College Foibles by Gabriel Reyes

The three principal characters, the roommates Lulu, Marrianne and Harriet portrayed by Madeline Tran, Sami Yacob-Andrus and Angie Tennant respectively, are engaged in a particular social dynamic that should be familiar to anyone who attended a university during their emerging independence upon exiting adolescence. In the beginning, Marrianne and Lulu are the best of friends while Harriet is the odd one out, seemingly unaware of her ostracization. As the play progresses the structure of their relationship shifts after the girls make choices that force a change in their individual dynamics, sometimes causing each other emotional distress either unintentionally or unknowingly. The character of Lulu in particular does so in the most upfront way, and in a different play her covert jabs at Harriet and pressuring of Marriane would make her the quote-en-quote “villain.” However, The Bed Trick is not that kind of play and refuses to pass judgement on any of its characters. Keiko Green in an interview with Seattle Shakespeare Company said, “ I can’t really say that there’s an antagonist in this play. I have built a play of six characters that I love and care for and empathize with” (Green 2024). Earlier in the same interview Green talks about how the theme of forgiveness played a major part in her perception of the work as she engaged with the original cast in rehearsals at Seattle Shakespeare. This same sense of empathy can be felt in the performances at ART’s The Bed Trick. It feels as though each character is searching for ways to love the other characters and themselves, reckoning with their own understandings of romance and friendship. We can see this most evidently in Harriet’s scenes where she attempts to unravel the morals of All’s Well, and Marianne’s rationalizing of her parents’ romance. The final moments of the show, where Harriet envisions an apology between the principal characters of Shakespeare’s play through the characters of Lulu and Willis, exemplifies these themes of forgiveness. The cast’s performances elevate the humanity of their characters, allowing the audience to accept the complications of their dynamic. The Bed Trick doesn’t provide any easy answers, we don’t find out if the three girls repair their friendships, if Lulu and Willis forgive each other as Harriet envisions, if Marianne’s parents ever reconcile or move on and stop fixating on their pasts. Likely not. But the play’s portrayal of this specific time in the characters lives, the aforementioned exit from their adolescence, leaves this possibility open. 

The relationship between the three girls and their conversations about Harriet’s play and Marrianne’s parents reminds us of a confusing time in our lives, as we entered into an adult world where we begin to exist outside of the context of classrooms and high school cliques. They strive for understanding and connection, but still carry the baggage of their adolescent lives and put each other down to gain validation. This contemporary setting puts the audience in the right frame of mind to understand the seemingly distant ideals of Shakespeare’s world; in short it asks us to remember a simpler time when forgiveness held boundless potential and we were all fumbling through our early adulthood to find love and friendship.

Works Cited
Chance Theater and Green, K. (2023) Interview with Keiko Green about her brand new play, ‘The bed trick’, Chance Theater. Available at: https://chancetheater.com/interview-keikogreen/ (Accessed: 15 November 2025).
Seattle Shakespeare Company and Green, K. (2024) An Interview with Keiko Green | The Bed Trick, YouTube. Available at: An Interview with Keiko Green | The Bed Trick (Accessed: 16 November 2025).