Meet Aly Bedford currently playing Clara in Things You Can Do July 8-31!
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Alyson Bedford is delighted to be a part of Live Girls for the first time! Previous credits include, Live! From The Last Night of My Life (with both Theater Schmeater and Theatre22), various 14/48 shows, and a recent reading with the Endangered Species Project. Before that, Aly worked around town at the Schmee (Cradle Will Fall), Seattle Theatre Group and AHA! Theater (Plan 9 From Outer Space, the Musical, The Lady in Question, The Shadow), the Seattle Children’s Theater (Sara Crewe, The Boxcar Children), Seattle Shakespeare Company (Richard III, Hamlet), Wooden O (As You Like It, Winters Tale) the Bathhouse Theater (The Servant of Two Masters), The Group Theater (Sarajevo:Behind Gods Back). She graduated with a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts and now works in the Theater Dept. as the Department Coordinator.
What was your favorite moment so far working on this piece?
I don’t have only one favorite moment. Each day of rehearsal has brought gems of wisdom, humor, pathos, and generosity. It’s the best part of theater, the collaboration, the brainstorming, the complete opposite of what you think the scene of character should be and it turns out to be a revelation. That’s the joy of working on this wonderful and deeply layered piece.
What images or songs helped inspire your character work for this play?
Oh my image came to so quickly – a side view of a person being held down in the deep water by a ball and chain, head only above the water. It illustrated for me where Clara is living.
Different songs would come and go for me, but what stuck and still does, is the Police’s song Synchronicity II – the urgency, minor tones yet melodic sound, spoke to me.
What future projects are you excited about working on?
No shows in the near future, but beginning a work out regimen! I must take time to care for my son and his mental health issues, but I HAVE to care for myself too, and it’s time to tone up and get energy again. Can’t wait!
If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?
That my hugs would utterly heal all pain, physical, mental, spiritual. It would fortify each person and give THEM the same super power. What a world we would have.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given as an artist?
Take your time. Well, there are a few pieces of advice that are so helpful for me, and along with ‘take your time’, is ‘dare to suck’. It’s so fun to not worry anymore about ‘failing’ because I get to be free to explore in the process without being self conscious. And if I’m deliberate and take my time, much can be revealed.
Finish this sentence- “I love theater that…”
Thrills me! I want goose bumps, a smile that won’t quit, and to think about it for days or weeks!
Outside of theater, what are you really into right now?
Medical science and recent history (love documentaries and biographies)
Any other thoughts you’d like to share? (About Live Girls! Theater, Love, Life, Puppies, …really – anything at all?
My gratitude. For being cast in this show – my first Live Girls! show; for the gorgeous people that I’ve been gifted to work with on this show; for the love and support of my dear friends and my family; for being in a profession where we get to show our love for each other and speak frankly, and try to work toward art being a healing force in this world; for the students in my life who teach me wonderful things every day, and love unconditionally. I’m very lucky and privileged. I will pay it forward.
Live Girls! is a theater company dedicated to producing and developing new plays by women.
