ABC’s (E4 in UK) The Middle’s Eden Sher (Sue Heck) on her new live comedy show and growing up in the public eye

Praise for Eden Sher in ‘The Middle’
“The breakout star [of The Middle] has undoubtedly been Eden Sher” Vulture
“These kids are good actors. They don’t simply inhabit their characters, but rather they devour them” Esquire

When you’ve played a character on TV for a decade, what exactly does it mean to “be yourself?” A comic perspective on growing up behind the lens, and life after the laughter stops.

Eden Sher spent nine seasons, 215 episodes and her formative years playing Sue Heck: the much adored, enthusiastic, socially awkward, braces-wearing teenager in hit ABC series, The Middle. Beaming into homes across America every week, with a viewership of 10 million and an army of devoted fans across the world, The Middle followed the everyday small lives of a lower-middle- class family – two parents and three kids – in America’s Midwest.

Sue Heck became a household name, but while Sue was growing up on screen, Eden was growing up too; navigating real life on the journey to adulthood and struggling to understand how to become her own person when her sense of self was so directly tethered to a fictional adolescent. Now, five years on from The Middle’s finale, Eden is ready to talk about what happens when your TV show ends and your “real life” begins.

In I Was On A Sitcom, Eden takes to the stage to share the story of the traumatic birth of her premature twins, an experience where, while her organs are being removed and placed on a table beside her, she’s repeatedly asked by everyone including the medical professionals cutting her open, “Are you Sue?” It explores Eden’s very real, personal trauma, all through the lens of a sitcom actor, complete with light relief characters, jarring punchlines, and canned laughter. The schism created by her time on The Middle plays out “LIVE! in front of a studio audience!”

High energy and frenetic at times, Eden smashes through the fourth wall that is the TV screen as her story unfolds with multiple characters as she dissects and illustrates the very real headache of being known to strangers as someone you’re not. I Was On A Sitcom is a meta unpacking of how growing up in the public eye, known for a persona that is not your own, can rewire a person’s brain, especially in your teenage and early adult years, and how that transcends into every part of life, long after the show is over.

Sue Heck is (for once) not a main character, but she does play an important role in I Was On A Sitcom, representing the internal conflict that Eden faces: Where does Eden end and Sue begin? Sue repeatedly checks in to make sure things aren’t getting “too sad,” but is trying to rewrite Eden’s painful and long experience with postpartum depression a step too far? Can Eden banish Sue from the stage? From her life? I Was On A Sitcom explores the internal conflict Eden has been facing all this time: does she have an identity without Sue? What does that look like? Who is Eden?

I Was On A Sitcom is directed by Sara Rejaie and Charlie McDermott, the latter best known for playing Eden’s TV brother, Axl on The Middle. Having been close friends on-set, then taking time off after the show ended to live their lives, they’re reuniting to explore the experience together.

LA-born Eden Sher was plucked from obscurity as a child by Jay Leno, who was so impressed with her comedic responses to his man-on-the-street segments, he offered her a solo one. Eden is a prolific actor based in Los Angeles, CA, most known for her work as Sue Heck on ABC’s The Middle and Star Vs. The Forces of Evil. She also published a book, The Emotionary: A Dictionary of Words That Don’t Exist for Feelings That Do in 2016 labelled ‘a must-read!’ by Oprah.com, which is available wherever books are sold. Recently she became a mother to two people. Eden has been nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series four times, winning in 2013.

LISTING

GILDED BALOON TEVIOT (TURRET)
20:20 2nd – 28th August (not 14th & 15th August) 60 mins
0131 622 6552 www.gildedballoon.co.uk