Expand<\/a><\/p>\nFirst, the title. As one of the play\u2019s characters explains A \u201cbed trick\u201d is a plot twist device notably known from the early 1600s in two Shakespeare comedies, \u201cAll\u2019s Well That Ends Well\u201d and \u201cMeasure for Measure.\u201d<\/p>\n
A \u201cbed trick\u201d is a planned connivance involving mistaken identity, a substitute replacing an expected partner during an intimate encounter.<\/p>\n
Shakespeare didn\u2019t create it. Originating in early Greek tragedy, a bed trick unexpectedly appears in the start of the Bible, Genesis 29: 21-25 to be exact. (Google \u201cbed, Jacob, Leah, Rachel\u201d)<\/p>\n
In olden times, this subterfuge occurred under the covers and in the cover of darkness.<\/p>\n
But in Green\u2019s play, it\u2019s contemporary sources for emotional hoodwinking \u2014 online dating apps \u2014 plus plenty of old-fashioned lying, driving the deception.<\/p>\n
The setting is a college dorm, and the focus is on the hyperactive interactions among three freshmen female roommates.<\/p>\n
Two of them, Marianne and Lulu, are friends and the third, Harriet, overtly wants to be friendly.<\/p>\n
But Marianne and Lulu find Harriet too different since the besotted theater nerd\/actress is quite capable in the moment of using stuffed animals to stage a mounting in the dorm room of \u201cAll\u2019s Well That Ends Well.\u201d<\/p>\n
And anyhow, the other two young women are preoccupied with scratching the distracting itch of their formative sex lives.<\/p>\n
Marianne is turning 18 and wondering if she will gift herself with the loss of virginity, though with whom is a secondary concern.<\/p>\n
Lulu is further along this path, now obsessed with exactly where she stands with an occasional hook-up named Willis, the friend she has discovered has opened a separate dating profile describing himself as \u201copen\u201d to other possibilities.<\/p>\n
What ensues are frantic and fumbled online tactics between the two pals, clandestine texting and talking to Willis, with Harriet the unknowing participant in the fallout.<\/p>\n
No further spoilers from here on.<\/p>\n
Character conniptions aside, Green probes current boundaries of sexual consent and agency as well as using Harriet\u2019s preoccupation with \u201cAll\u2019s Well That Ends Well\u201d as a sounding board to understand the dynamics of intimacy and power between things then and life now.<\/p>\n
The three actresses channel the passions written into the roles effectively, with each taking them to a next step.<\/p>\n
As Harriet, Sophia Blake\u2019s earnest declarations come from within, and feel earned. In a note to directors, Green says an ideal Harriet has \u201cchaotic energy that overwhelmed creative people have\u201d and Blake fires those sparks well.<\/p>\n
Mae Linh Young is recognizable as Marianne, a callow college freshman who is newly 18. Young\u2019s performance peels back layers, both revealing capabilities for manipulating others, then also taking refuge in vulnerability when the situation blows up.<\/p>\n
Zoe Hertzberg\u2019s range through Lulu\u2019s tough veneer and vulnerable interior, the dorm room\u2019s chief schemer, is an interesting progression to watch. Her early take-no-prisoners confidence disintegrates when she realizes she is not controlling emotional events and the actress lets us see the insecurities which have been inside all along.<\/p>\n
Though creatively engrossing as the work moves along, there are couple of challenges to sustain the audience\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n
Green introduces a distracting side plot involving Marianne\u2019s divorced parents Benny and Anna who are struggling to find out how the mores of today\u2019s intimacies fit them.<\/p>\n
The revelation that their daughter\u2019s conception took place in a similar bed trick situation feels convenient and forced.<\/p>\n
Though well-acted by Karen O\u2019Hanlon and Eric Dylan Matibag, these roles aren\u2019t fully developed. The former couple\u2019s value is for ultimately acting as referees in sorting out the main plot resolution among the younger people.<\/p>\n
Additionally, Green saddles the work with slightly stodgy opening and closing monologues which Harriet, breaking the fourth wall, earnestly addresses to the audience.<\/p>\n
An overly lengthy \u201cwarning: sexual content ahead\u201d declaration opens the performance.<\/p>\n
But a more interesting epilogue includes a very Shakespearean apologia: \u201c\u2026We\u2019re sorry we\u2019re presenting you more questions\/But we hope that in all of this chaos\/you found something worthwhile anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quite worthwhile. And no apologies necessary.<\/p>\n
\u2018The Bed Trick\u2019<\/p>\n
Rating: 3 stars (out of four possible)<\/p>\n
When: Through Oct. 4. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.<\/p>\n
Where: Chance Theater, Cripe Stage, 5522 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim<\/p>\n
Tickets: $48-$96<\/p>\n
Information: 888-455-4212; chancetheater.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A sex comedy, or its polite equivalent, the \u201cbedroom farce,\u201d isn\u2019t typical Chance Theater programming. But a play…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,5311,420],"class_list":["post-473258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-theater-arts","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/p>\n![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.ocregister.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/OCR-L-BED-TRICK-0924-01.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n