14 July - 18 July 2026
Philosophy of the World
14 July - 18 July 2026
About
New Hampshire, USA. 1940s.
A boy receives a palm reading from a psychic. The prophecy predicts his life’s fate:
1) He will marry a woman with strawberry-blonde hair.
2) He will have two sons.
3) His daughters will form a world-famous rock band.
When the first two come true, he makes the third a reality. In Bed With My Brother twists Rock 'n' Roll history into a sticky, sweaty, searing rebellion.
PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD is about The Shaggs — the quintessential outsider band. It’s the show Edinburgh couldn’t shut up about. It’s about the best worst album ever made. It’s about who holds the power to define you. Who gets to say whether you’re a legend? Or a loser? Who owns the right (and the rights) to tell your story?
And it’s about dads.
DATES & TIMES
14 July - 18 July 2026
Tuesday - Saturday, 7pm
HOW TO BOOK
ONLINE
Just click the 'BOOK NOW' button to purchase tickets online. A £2.50 booking fee will apply.
WAYS TO SAVE
CONCESSIONS
If you're aged 27 and under, 65+, a student, or unwaged, tickets are cheaper.
GROUP BOOKINGS
If you’d like to make a group booking (10+ tickets) please email boxoffice@theyardtheatre.co.uk.
ACCESS & SUITABILITY
ACCESS
Access tickets are priced as concessions and can be booked online. We offer free tickets for companions, and these must be booked by emailing boxoffice@theyardtheatre.co.uk
SUITABILITY
Recommended for ages 16+
CONTENT GUIDANCE
This show contains haze, herbal cigarettes, audience participation, strobe lights, flashing lights, loud music, sudden noises, partial nudity, violence, strong language, depictions of blood, use of prop firearms and themes of patriarchal control and abuse (and daddy issues).
RUNNING TIME
70 minutes with no interval
REVIEWS
“The show is messy, but every provocative decision is justified, stacking up into a coherent, caustic comment on the inescapability of the patriarchy”
The Scotsman
“Ear-splittingly loud, raucous, rambling, thoughtful, clever, provocative and absolutely and utterly brilliant.”
Whatsonstage
“Furious and funny rallying cry against patriarchy and perfection... It is unkept, unseemly and chaotic. And that is exactly the point.”
The Guardian
“Rigorous, intelligent show”
The Stage
“The show cracks open, its thin veneer of narrative coherency shattering to reveal something molten and dangerous... a roaring, discordant symphony... There’s nobody doing it quite like them – furious voices, howling in a wilderness they’d rather die than leave”
Time Out
“A wild and raucous assault-course emancipation... There are essays to be written about this show”
The List
“IBWMB have made a visceral, uneasy but hilarious work of performance art that is both high-brow and accessible, provocative, honest and intellectual. There is no-one quite like them right now, but it feels like the beginning of a movement.”
British Theatre Guide
“Original, unsettling, and oddly moving”
North West End
“Effervescent and bubbling at the brim with anger, wit and vitality”
Corr Blimey
“Bold experimental comedy and relentless energy”
Theatre Vibe
Team
PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD is supported by Arts Council England.
The show was commissioned by Cambridge Junction and developed with the support of the National Theatre’s Generate programme, New Diorama Theatre’s Intervention 01, Bristol Old Vic, Curious Directive and Exeter Northcott Theatre.
PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD was first developed through Live Drafts at The Yard in 2024.
The Yard Theatre’s reopening season is supported by our Season Circle: Carolyn Ward, Georgia Oetker, Fiona Clements, and those who prefer to remain anonymous.
Reviews
“Assault on bourgeois conformity”
The Telegraph
“A brilliantly bonkers, metatextual and high-octane take on outsider artists The Shaggs”
Fest Magazine
“A cacophonous, raucous howl that batters your eardrums and paints the floor with your blood”
Three Weeks
“Unpredictable, and wholly original… a thrilling, maniacal meditation on destiny and performance”
Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
“A stupidly smart jab at patriarchy and at performance itself… funny, disturbing and not a little exhilarating”
All Edinburgh Theatre
“Loud, chaotic, and dangerous, their work gleefully dismantles both dramaturgical and health-and-safety rule books”
Spy in the Stalls
“A mix of wild energy and layered thoughtfulness… This is a show which looks and feels like chaos by a company who are in complete control and have thought very hard about what they are doing and how they are doing it.”
Lyn Gardener for Stage Door
“Darkly impressive stuff”
Clash Magazine
“A wild, messed-up blast of late-night fury”
The Independent
