Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: Washington, D.C.

The Bedwetter
Arena Stage
Review by Susan Berlin | Season Schedule


Avery Harris, Shoshana Bean, and Aria Kane
Photo by T Charles Erickson Photography
Sarah Silverman is an outspoken actress and stand-up comedian, but her road to success was not easy. The Bedwetter, now in the Kreeger Theater at Washington's Arena Stage, tells the story–sometimes hilarious, sometimes frustrating, sometimes angry–of how Sarah, as a 10-year-old girl, found her own (outrageous and often profane) voice.

Silverman created the musical's book with Joshua Harmon, based on her memoir "The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee." (Her most humiliating childhood secret isn't secret anymore.) Her original composer and co-lyricist, Adam Schlesinger, was an early casualty of COVID-19 in 2020; the current version of the show also incorporates music and lyrics by David Yazbek.

Director Anne Kauffman demonstrates skill in the way she can bring out the disparate moods and elements of the 90-minute performance while fusing them into a cohesive whole. She is also working with a dead-on cast headed by the precociously talented Aria Kane as young Sarah, along with two established Broadway talents, Shoshana Bean and Liz Larsen, as her respective mother and grandmother.

And does Silverman have a story to tell. She and her older sister Laura (Avery Harris) have moved to a new town in New Hampshire following the divorce of her father (Darren Goldstein) and mother (Bean), so they're starting fresh in a new school. Laura fits in instantly, but Sarah keeps saying inappropriate things and tries to force her way into an established school clique.

Meanwhile, her loving but overbearing father does tacky television ads for the discount clothing store he owns, her mother has developed agoraphobia and won't leave the house, the grandmother has taught the girls to mix cocktails for her–so the fact that Sarah pees the bed (as her father did before her) is only one of her issues. And that doesn't even include Rick Crom as two doctors who shouldn't be practicing and Alysha Umphress as Sarah's pushy teacher.

David Korins has designed an ingenious set, which seems simple but uses sliding walls to create new room configurations for each scene. Japhy Weideman's lighting design helps to show the overlap between Sarah's reality and her fantasy life, while Kaye Voyce's costumes capture some of the silliness of 1980s fashions.

The Bedwetter runs through March 16, 2025, at Arena Stage, Kreeger Theater, Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 6th St. SW, Washington DC. For tickets and information, please call 202-488-3300 or visit www.arenastage.org.

Book by Joshua Harmon and Sarah Silverman
Music by Adam Schlesinger
Lyrics by Sarah Silverman and Adam Schlesinger
Additional music and lyrics by David Yazbek
Based upon The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee by Sarah Silverman
Directed by Anne Kauffman
Choreographed by Danny Mefford
Music director: Rebekah Bruce

Cast:
Beth Ann: Shoshana Bean
Miss New Hampshire/Dance Captain: Ashley Blanchet
Dr. Grimm/Dr. Riley: Rick Crom
Donald: Darren Goldstein
Laura: Avery Harris
Sarah: Aria Kane
Abby: Emerson Holt Lacayo
Nana: Liz Larsen
Ally: Alina Santos
Amy: Elin Joy Seiler
Mrs. Dembo: Alysha Umphress