‘Bed’ time at Black Box Theatre

Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 | 8:46 a.m.

You're a Broadway composer. Your career is in jeopardy, your wife just left you and you have this dream. In the dream, your bed talks to you, your wife visits you, as does your boss and your fantasy.

This is the premise of Tom Swimm's romantic comedy "Bed," which takes the stage tonight at UNLV's Black Box Theatre.

Winner of the 2004 Morton R. Sarett National Playwriting Award, "Bed" originated at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, Calif., where Swimm, a playwright, screenwriter and SAG actor, was studying playwriting.

Director Aaron Tuttle, who has been working with Swimm via telephone, took some liberties with the script by adding the dream element, setting the play in the 1950s and creating it visually as a "painting that's come to life."

"It actually gives you more freedom," Tuttle said. "In dreams, people can appear in different forms. Characters are not always what they seem. Three different people come to him and mean different things to him. "

The play, which opens with the dreamy song "Blue Bayou," is about self identity and responsibility. The bed is the play's antagonist and advises the main character, trying to push him back to his wife.

Swimm, a professional oil painter, was selected from hundreds of playwrights.

The biennial Morton R. Sarett Award, a memorial to Sarett, a playwright and author, receives between 300 to 500 entries, said Jeff Koep, dean of the UNLV College of Fine Arts.

Professionals around the country read approximately 20 scripts, select the best, then send them to another group of industry professionals. The most highly rated plays become finalists and are read by a three-person panel including Koep, Sam Smiley and Jerry Wade.

Regarding "Bed," Koep said, "What we all agreed on is that the play showed maturity in writing, dramatic action and had well-developed characters."