2nd Play - Bed and Breakfast of the Damned by Cameron McNairy

Illustration above from the marketing promo for the constructivists upcoming production in Fall 2025 in Milwaukee. Artist: Lewis Lain.

This was a letter B on my list of plays, so it got picked for #2. And no, these will not all be letters of the alphabet, although that’s a fun idea! I actually will be working on this play as the Intimacy Choreographer, so had to read it anyway, but who can resist such a great title!

Summary: “When young couple Ben and Melissa find shelter from the zombie apocalypse at the pug-themed “Snug as a Pug” bed and breakfast, they think that all their troubles are behind them. But when the sweet but hapless Carol and the deeply sociopathic Sheryl feed Melissa to the zombie horde in order to keep their husbands Dan and Carl from learning that they are having an affair, everything goes to pieces in a hurry. Ben tries desperately to keep Melissa's zombified corpse hidden from a potentially homicidal Dan, Carol struggles with her feelings for Sheryl, Dan and Ben, Sheryl tries to bed everthing that moves, and Carl wanders around in a drugged-out stupor, trying to figure out who keeps leaving chamomile packets all over the floor... leading inevitably to a frantic and bloody ending. BED AND BREAKFAST OF THE DAMNED is a classic door-slamming sex farce, set after the zombie apocalypse.” New Play Exchange

Laura’s thoughts in brief: I love a good door-slamming farce. And even better when there are zombies behind some of the doors! Also, the idea of a pug-themed bed and breakfast tickles the hell out of me. This is a hysterically funny and very typical farce, but with zombies! Sounds dark, and I guess it is, but it’s way funnier than it is dark. Keeping up with who is fooling around with who, and who might have been turned into a zombie is a fun and silly challenge in this piece. It’s not particularly deep, but most enjoyable! Like the constructivists, I believe that laughter at this particular time in history is as important as depth. I’m excited to do some Zombie Intimacy work on this one. Come to Milwaukee to come see it! (Also, how great is the artwork?!!)

READ MORE! I don’t know if there have been any productions yet, but here’s the link to the New Play Exchange website where there is more info about the play:

https://newplayexchange.org/script/2039215/bed-and-breakfast-of-the-damned

Also, come see the constructivists’ production in Milwaukee in October/November:

https://www.theconstructivists.org/productions/25-26-season/bed-and-breakfast-of-the-damned