The Rise of the Pongids

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And now, from the sublime to the ridiculous. With the number of shows produced at the Bedlam, some are inevitably bound to prove themselves ‘ turkeys’. Inexperience and lack of proven talent has never been a bar to having a go at the Bedlam. Some bad shows have nevertheless made history. One such show has even become part of the vocabulary of the Bedlam.

This was “ The Rise of the Pongids “, a lunchtime show from 1985. The director was Tom Harwood, whose brother had written the show, for his school revue.

The show was passed by EUTC, but enthusiasm was muted, to say the least. Undaunted, Harwood [The director, who’s brother wrote the show], used cardboard cut-outs to represent the places in the cast left unfilled. Despite this obvious desperation, a decent-sized audience trooped in to see the show. They did not stay long. By the end of this awful production, only two people remained in their seats, one of whom was the director. A ‘Pongid’ came to mean a dreadful show thereafter.”

Edinburgh’s Bedlam Theatre p32-33