HAIRLINE *****
'TOP TICKET'
Have a quick glance at this year's Fringe brochure and you will undoubtedly see a theme - sex. It's everywhere this year, from the tawdry outings of XXX at the Pleasance to speed dating at the C Venues, but it seems that very few people are selling it as well as Les Enfants Terribles.
Hot from last year's tour de force (The Germinator - a Hairline Highlight Winner) this wonderful company, under the expert guidance of writer/director Oliver Lansley, has returned with another surefire hit - Bedtime Stories. Set in those often-uncomfortable moments before sleep, Bedtime Stories tells the tales of four young couples and their attitudes and preconceptions towards sex through a series of monologues. Pitching in a mixture of stereotypes, from the FHM-reading twenty something guy to the chocolate guzzling pre-menstrual girl, Lansley's clever script covers the gamut of emotions and attitudes towards sex in an intelligent manner.
Besides being an immaculately written piece, Bedtime Stories is a real showcase for the Enfants, and allows the entire ensemble to shine in their own right. It is an absolute joy to watch, though the fourth act hits like a hammer after the joviality of its predecessors.
Definitely one of this year's 'must sees' and, to be frank, Les Enfants Terribles and Oliver Lansley deserve every award going. Our only worry is that this wonderful show will catapult them to stardom and that we won't be able to see them next year.
Richard Biggs

EDINBURGH GUIDE *****
Hush now darlings - it's bedtime. Time for Les Enfants Terribles to explore what happens between the sheets when the lights go out. Sex. How men are obsessed with it and woman would rather dream of tomorrow's lunch and dessert. And vice versa.
Oliver Lansley's fermented four saucy scenes of sexual passion that are so real, you'll think it's you they got their ideas from. Whether you're the calorie-counting gal who just doesn't feel like sex tonight, the pre-menstrual boiling pot who's giving up smoking, or a sexy dominatrix type who just can't get enough of it, you'll feel right at home. And the lads will chuckle at mastered stereotypical monologues of men being men and women just being themselves. The bedroom becomes a place of agitation, emotional exploration and sexual frustration as four couples subvert sexual perceptions in stable relationships. Through them, we discover that not all men want sex all the time, women are just as needy at times and hormone fluctuation in women is not an excuse to start or avoid an argument. Moments of sheer comic excellence are followed by a poignant silent scene, unraveling the intricacies of inter-relationship rape. Les Enfants Terribles manage to smack such gender issues on the nose, delivering an admirable series of bedtime stories. Marisa de Andrade

THREE WEEKS ****
The bedroom assumes the role of confessional booth for this darkly comic production by Oliver Lansley. In four acts we are introduced to four relationships in varying states of emotional and sexual dysfunction, with each partner taking turns to offer their take on the hormonal minefield which is bedroom politics. The impression of the sexes engaged in perpetual gender war is perhaps overstated, but the script is sharp, emotive and for most parts manages to avoid sounding too much like half-baked Woody Allen. Strong casting and a range of believable, sympathetic characters ensure that these monologues offer a bruised window into the neuroses which take hold once the light goes off.

THE STAGE
This new play consists of four acts with couples expounding their views on sex... a very moving, thought-provoking piece, carefully handled...excellent writing throughout we should look forward with anticipation to further work from the author.
Paul Vale

FEST
Following on from his Fringe 2003 one-man show, The Germinator, Oliver Lansley's new offering is an enthusiastic take on the otherwise exhausted gender gap theme. Four couples, each in very different situations, discuss their bedroom activities, or lack thereof, in turn. Bedtime Stories does not consist, however, of a series of typical lovers' quarrels. Instead, it attempts to convey how the different minds of men and women work: not all men are sexed-crazed animals and they are just as affected by hormones as women... the scenarios presented are surprisingly familiar and real. Slick directing and the intimacy of the small venue gives the play an almost screen-like quality... Desperately truthful and frequently shocking, it is an entertaining and often hilarious production from a very promising theatre company.

ONE4REVIEW
This play, written and directed by Oliver Lansley, is really four plays in one, all set in a bedroom, featuring four couples who really go about proving that girls are from Venus and men are from Mars. Each scene is an insight on how individuals reach to their own need in conjunction with, or against, their partners. Each side is told in monologues with not much acting together, but the net result is an often comical, occasionally sad and latterly very thought provoking hour of entertainment.