The Bed Trick
September 30 - October 26, 2025
Artists Repertory Theatre
By Keiko Green | Directed by Luan Schooler
Ahh, the old bed trick… When Person A tricks Person B into sleeping with them by pretending to be Person C. Classic! Zeus did it, it’s in the Book of Genesis, and Shakespeare took it to comic heights in All’s Well that Ends Well. So why wouldn’t it work for college dormmates Lulu, Marianne, and Harriet?
Sparks fly in this effervescent bedroom farce by Seattle’s Keiko Green, where the joys of being young and frisky smash into questions of deception and consent. The Bed Trick is a fresh, sparkling comedy about sex, ethics, and Shakespeare.
Event Dates:
Sept 30- Oct 3: previews
♦ Wednesday, Oct 1 (evening): Tech Talk
♦ Saturday, Oct 4 (evening): Opening Night
♦ Sunday, Oct 5 (matinee): Arts on the Couch
♦ Saturday, Oct 11 (evening): Highlight Night
♦ Saturday, Oct 18 (evening): BIPOC Affinity Night
♦ Thursday, Oct 23 (evening): Audio Described Performance
Content Warning:
The Bed Trick contains frank references to sex and sexuality, rape, and suicide.
Press
The playbill describes THE BED TRICK as a confection with a chewy center, but this undersells it. Yes, the play is genuinely funny, but beneath the sharp wit lies some serious substance that will give you plenty to think about.
Chief among the many pleasures of Artists Rep’s production of The Bed Trick is its talented cast, all of whom are as adept at batting witty banter as they are at creating pockets of emotional depth.
Being in the rehearsal room developing The Bed Trick now for Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, what’s changed since its premiere in Seattle?
There have been a few smaller changes throughout, but the biggest changes have been near the end of the play, making sure that each of the characters feels like they’re landing in a really specific place that is either the opposite of where they started or (sadly) regressing to exactly where they started. It’s a bit of a delicate game of making sure we’re being really deliberate with each person’s arc. They are mostly nuanced changes, but I think they have a significant impact on the tone of the play and what we’re saying.
Artists Repertory Theatre’s current production “The Bed Trick” by Keiko Green is exceptionally well-written. It’s clever, funny, and thoroughly questions the morality, ethics, and politics of the so-called bed trick. [Made famous by Shakespeare’s “All’s Well that Ends Well,” the bed trick is when one person fools another person into sleeping with the “wrong” person. ] The play also reflects the younger generation’s acceptance and exploration of sexual attraction to others regardless of gender.
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