“THE BED” a play by Danaë Brook

About

The Minories Galleries is proud to present ‘THE BED’ by writer Danaë Brook, the first drama in a trilogy of one act plays being performed at the art gallery themed on the lives of Artists and how challenging relationships impact on their creativity. 

“THE BED centres on an emotional tug of war between artist Tracey Emin and her friend, as one struggles with deep depression and the other wants to gadabout town”  

Danaë Brook, playwright

ART MEETS THEATRE 

A first for UK theatre production?

• Live Theatre in an Art Gallery?

• A picture speaks a thousand words?

For what may be a UK first, Danaë Brook’s play THE BED will be performed not in a theatre but in an Art Gallery. 

Brook has teamed up with Colchester’s prestigious Minories Art Gallery to present a ‘Making Art’ a trilogy of plays about artist’s lives. 

DANAË BROOK “The first play, The Bed, at The Minories over Valentine’s Weekend 14 & 15 February, is a bitter sweet comedy about Tracey Emin’s notorious artwork MY BED. Audiences can expect an outrageously entertaining evening.  

I got the idea to perform this trilogy in art galleries whilst I was writing the plays. It seemsobvious to me that an art gallery is the perfect place for plays about artists.  

Indeed, maybe the artist has connections with the art gallery, which is even better. Some say Francis Bacon may well have frequented the Minories, when he lived and painted in Wivenhoe.   Even Van Gogh may have travelled from London to Colchester. It’s possible!  Does anyone know if Tracey Emin came here too?” 

Actors will perform within a live exhibition space at The Minories.  The art exhibitions on display will enhance and contextualise the drama, amplifying themes within each play includingmental health, use of colour and texture, and challenging dialogue. 

MAX FOX, THE MINORIES MANAGER 

Max Fox, welcomes the collaboration with playwright Danaë Brook,

“With a background in theatre and the privilege of managing The Minories gallery on behalf of Colchester Institute, it is natural to me to see a creative space and think about all the things we could do with it. 

Putting diverse talents together to create an immersive experience that is greater than the individual parts. Making as much use of the Minories space provides opportunities to nurture, support and promote local and regional artists from every discipline.  

To me, hosting plays about focal point aspects of the life of an artist within a working gallery, is a natural fit, it is like breathing. So I hope local residents and visitors, and the theatre audience will be as excited as we are to see DanaëBrook’s ground breaking plays”

DR. RONALD BLYTHE CBE, AUTHOR & PATRON OF ‘MAKING ART’ 

Akenfield author Dr Ronald Blythe CBE is a great enthusiast for Danaë Brook’s writing and is Honorary Patron. 

“I encourage all to go and see Danaë’s excellent plays about Artists which explore the dynamics of creating a ‘masterpiece’.  

The dramas are not only entertaining but revelatory of the process. I love the innovative concept that plays about Artists are being performed in Art Galleries. It is a wonderful and logical idea which I wholly support, as indeed I applaud the Minories for taking this bold step. 

The gallery has been so much part of the East Anglian art world for so long.  Indeed, I was a founder member of Colchester Art Society whose relationship continues to thrive and flourish at The Minories to this day!” 

‘MAKING ART’ trilogy explores the dynamic value of tricky relationships in the creative process. The trio of plays The Bed, Waiting for Bacon and The Yellow House imagine how such emotional interaction might have impacted upon the creation of three celebrated works of art. Each play is focuses on the intense relationship between artist and lover /artist & close friend, showing how the dynamics of such associations shape their art.

Plays & Exhibitions

This Trilogy of one act plays looks at how famous works of art might have evolved and why.   Each play can be enjoyed as a standalone drama or for the full experience its preferable to book all three plays. 

1) The Bed – February 14th (Valentine’s Day) and February 15th

Art Exhibition: Phototherapy 2 by Norbert Kiss, 10 to 22 February.

PLAY: Danaë Brook’s play envisages an emotional tug of war between artist Tracey Emin and her friend as one struggles with deep depression and the other wants to gadabout town.

​ART : Norbert’s passion is to help people understand mental ​health and widen people’s perspective through the art of ​phototherapy.

2) Waiting For Bacon – April 3rd and 4th

Art Exhibition:  Steve Downey starts February 24th.

PLAY: The drama is about Contemporary artist Francis Bacon and his lover George Dyer, set in Paris in 1971 during Bacon’s first major retrospective at the Grand Palais. The suicide of Dyer, Bacon’s favourite model, lead through unbearable guilt to Bacon‘s famous three black triptych’sdepicting images which became a kind of exorcism.

ART: “ AN EXPLOSION IN COLOUR”.  Artworks by Steve Downey reflecting journeys across 4 continents”.

​Steve Downey's artwork has been described as "an explosion in ​colour", and is influenced by cultures throughout the world.

​He uses mixed media, including paint, collage, photography, ​computer-​generated images and mosaic.

3) The Yellow House – May 1st and 2nd

Exhibition Goldmark: Rothenstein

PLAY: The story of how and why in the depths of poverty Vincent van Gogh invited painter Paul Gauguin to his house in Arles, Provence. It was a passionate competitive relationship which lead to massive creative output from both painters and to Van Gogh lopping off his own ear.

ART: Goldmark https://www.goldmarkart.com/

The Minories Galleries, Colchester, is to display a unique collection of prints of the work of Michael Rothenstein, who was perhaps the most experimental British graphic artist of the 20th century. The exhibition runs from 25th April until 31st May and  has been curated by Rothenstein’s estate holder, the Goldmark Gallery. The exhibition is accompanied by a major new illustrated book, written by Mel Gooding and published by Goldmark.

Mike Goldmark founder of the Goldmark Gallery adds. “We are delighted that Colchester, only 20 minutes from Rothenstein’s home in Stisted in Essex, will  see this quite exceptional international class exhibition. These  prints embody the same excitement and daring that galvanised their production: rich in colour and spectacularly textured, they represent an artist exploding the boundaries of traditional printmaking. This will be an exciting exhibition.”

Notes to Editors

All three plays will be performed at The Minories Galleries, 74 High Street, Colchester CO1 1UE starting at 7.30pm 

• THE BED ​14 & 15 February

• WAITING FOR BACON ​3 & 4 April ​

• THE YELLOW HOUSE ​1 & 2 May

Tickets available www.theminoriesgalleries.co.uk T 01206 712373

Email:  the.minories@colchester.ac.uk

MY BED ~ THE PRODUCTION TEAM 

Director: Liam Reilly 

Director of Previous Plays: 

o Phaedra’s love - 20th century theatre 

o Showcase - Bush theatre 

o Showcase - Gate theatre 

o Bipolar me - Etcetera theatre 

o Waiting for Bacon – The Minories 

CO PRODUCER: CERI ASHE 

Ceri Ashe actor, writer and Mental Health Advocate, is starring in MY BED as Tracey Emin, aswell as co producing the production MY BED in Colchester, She also is juggling her time between MY BED with writing and performing her first play BIPOLAR ME in London and Wales.  

Ceril is based in London but comes from Wales, and is a fluent Welsh speaker. 

Ceri studied Drama at Manchester University, specialising in verbatim theatre and training as a theatre practitioner in community and applied theatre.  For her thesis, Ceri wrote a verbatim play which premiered at the John Thaw Studio Theatre, Manchester.  

ACTORS 

Ceri Ashe - Tracey 

Anne Vanderelst – Katie 

Anne was born and raised in Belgium. After finishing her bachelor’s degree in musical theatre at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels, Anne moved to the UK to obtain her master’s musical theatre at the Guildford School of Acting. 

Since graduating Anne has been involved in various projects, from music videos to concerts to new plays. Anne is very excited to join the cast of “THE BED” and to be working with poptypingproductions!

Panel of Patrons

• Susan Cohen

• Dr Ronald Blythe CBE, author of ‘Akenfield’

TBC 

Lord Gowrie 

Dr E.J. Kuti , Department Head, Literature Film and Theatre, Essex University (to be approached)

Social Media: @Cl Minories, Facebook: The Minories Art Gallery

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Wendy Bailey 07770 665512

wendybaileypr@me.com

About the Author

DANAË BROOK 

WRITER, JOURNALIST, PLAYWIGHT, ACTOR

LATEST NEWS: 

2020 THEATRE PRODUCTIONS

‘THE BED’ is a play by award winning writer Danaë Brook, inspired by Tracey Emin’s infamous art installation. The Minories Galleries is proud to present the world premiere of ‘THEBED’, on Valentine’s Day & weekend 14 & 15 February 2020, the first drama in a trilogy of single dramas themed on the lives of Artists and their motivation. 

All three plays will be performed at The Minories Galleries, 74 High Street, Colchester CO1 1UE starting at 7.30pm 

• THE BED ​14 & 15 February

• WAITING FOR BACON ​3 & 4 April ​

• THE YELLOW HOUSE ​1 & 2 May

Tickets available www.theminoriesgalleries.co.uk T 01206 712373

Email:  the.minories@colchester.ac.uk  

DANAË BROOK CV : 

Skills Summary

Danaë Brook is a journalist, author and actor with more than thirty years of experience. I have also interviewed for, and directed TV documentaries.  Danaë lives in Wivenhoe, Essex