Described as low-key and awkwardly funny, Bedtime Monsters centres on the relationship between siblings Adeline and Greer, moving from snapshots of their childhood to adulthood and their experiences with romantic relationships and children. 

The pace and rhythm of Bedtime Monsters kept the play moving effectively, showing moments between Greer and Adeline as children reading to each other and elder sister Greer helping Adeline overcome her fears of bedtime monsters. These snapshots punctuate moments from the sisters’ adult lives as we see them deal with teenage pregnancy, struggling to find work, starting new relationships and moving away from home. 

The themes covered provide a vast array of familial and life tensions that so in some measure ring true with the audience. We see Mark and Adeline struggle as their life plans and their relationship inevitably change when they become young parents. Greer travels abroad to London, desperate to escape but finds herself lonely in the big city and unsure how to communicate with her younger sister. These extensive topics make for a broad tableau of life experiences. 

However, despite its ambitions, Bedtime Monsters’ plot never seems to ring true. Instead, the dialogue is distinctly contrived and predictable, despite the actors’ best efforts.  Indeed, there are moments of affective emotion on stage, such as Mark’s job interview, played with thoughtful reflection by Ben Martineau. Sasha Brooks similarly has powerful moments of quiet tension as younger sister Adeline. Greer is portrayed with affable awkwardness by Lily Lindon, but this behaviour becomes increasingly less endearing, and more irritatingly unrealistic.  The dialogue between Greer and her partner Thom (played by Ash Rosen) from the beginning of their relationship up until domestic life with a child, is again clearly intended to be charmingly awkward but is more painfully schmaltzy.

Despite the actors’ best efforts, Bedtime Monsters is simply too broad and superficial to provide a deep and meaningful representation or depiction of life and relationships.  Instead we are presented with many diverse aspects of human experiences that are portrayed with soap opera-esque dialogue that unfortunately falls into the realm of cliché.

A disappointing and frustrating evening of theatre that despite promises of evocative and simple drama, fails to live up to expectations, showing little depth and originality.