The Woodland Opera House in Woodland, CA (near Sacramento and Davis) is presenting the world premiere of SECOND-BEST BED, a new comedy by local Sacramento playwright Matthew Abergel.
The title (SECOND-BEST BED) is a reference to William Shakespeare's last will and testament, in which he left only his "second-best bed" to his wife Anne Hathaway. That's the jumping off place for the premise of this crazy farce in which Judy Cobb, an earnestly nerdy graduate student from a Midwestern university, ventures to a remote and run-down English inn to track down the infamous "second-best bed" which she believes contains a clue to a long-lost and never-produced play by the Bard himself. Joining her on her journey is her celebrity-obsessed GBF (gay best friend) who, more often than not, turns out to be more of a hindrance than a help. Will they find what they're looking for, or will they be thwarted in their efforts by the vaguely creepy innkeeper who's hiding his own secret, the stuffy English Shakespeare scholar who won't be one-upped by an American upstart, the faded British sitcom star looking to resuscitate her moribund career, or the busybody Kosher caterer visiting from L.A. who has her own agenda?
SECOND-BEST BED is equal parts bedroom farce and English manor house mystery with a healthy pinch of Shakespearean wit thrown in for good measure. Performances are March 7-30, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 & Sundays at 2, with an extra Saturday 2 PM performance on March 22. Reserved tickets are $25 adults, $23 seniors 62+ & students, $12 children 17 and under. Balcony $15, children $7.
For more information and tickets, please access the theatre's website, linked below.
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