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Bed and Sofa

The Outré Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Skye Whitcomb and Managing Director Sabrina Lynn Gore are honored to announce that Outré will be presenting the Southeastern premiere of Polly Pen and Laurence Klavan’s “silent movie opera,” Bed and Sofa. Winner of the 1996 Obie Award for Best Music, and nominated for seven Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical. 

Based on Avram Room’s 1926 silent film masterpiece Tretya meshchanskaya, Bed and Sofa focuses on a stonemason, Kolya, and his wife, Ludmilla, living in a cramped basement apartment in Moscow. When Kolya’s old army buddy Volodya shows up in Moscow without a place to stay, Kolya offers to let the handsome young man “with the sensitive face” stay on his and Ludmilla’s sofa, while they take the bed. The sexual tension between Ludmilla and Volodya reaches its peak when Kolya has to leave town for three weeks, only to return to find that it is now he who is sleeping on the sofa, while Ludmilla and Volodya share the bed. The tension mounts between the three, until Ludmilla finally must make the decision that will define her. 

Outré is proud to offer the Southeastern premiere of Pen and Klavan’s work, which will be replacing The Threepenny Opera in the 2015/16 season. The Threepenny Opera will be included as part of the 2016/17 season. “The film on which the play is based was revolutionary for its time,” says director Skye Whitcomb. “Its frank treatment of sex, of abortion, of women’s rights, was nearly unheard of in 1927. It’s a great show to start our ‘Power of Woman’ season, since Ludmilla is really the linchpin of the story. Rather than allowing either of the men to define who she is, she makes that decision on her own, to be whoever it is that she wants to be.” 

Bed and Sofa will perform August 28, 2015, through September 13, 2015, with performances on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 pm and Sunday afternoons at 2 pm.  Outré is proud to call the Abdo New River Room at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts its new home. The Abdo New River Room features a fresh, modern menu of delectable choices with table service offered 90 minutes prior to performances and during intermission for shows that take place in the Abdo New River Room. Please note: arrive at least 15 minutes prior to curtain to ensure table service. No table service is available after the show. Tickets to performances in the Abdo New River Room do not include food or beverages unless otherwise noted.  All performances are in the Abdo New River Room at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Season and individual show tickets are available through the Broward Center’s website, www.browardcenter.org, or by calling 954-462-0222.