A playful but often unfocused dance-theatre piece for ages 4+, inspired by sleep theory research and featuring some lovely moments.Rating
Good
The Sleep Show is a playful, curious if slightly mish-mash dance-theatre exploration of sleep, aimed at ages four plus. Mixing movement, music and moments of direct audience participation, it aspires to turn bedtime into a poetic playground – though it doesn’t always manage to hold its young audience’s attention.
Built from a foundation of research into sleep science, the production brings together expertise from neuroscientists and sleep physiologists at specialist hospitals and – as outlined in the programme – the experiences of the creatives as parents. These influences inform the show’s structure, which touches on body clocks, bedtime routines and the various emotional and physical stages of falling asleep.
The piece unfolds on a circular, soft blue floor with a billowing material backdrop. It’s a soft, intimate arena that invites both play and stillness, with performers Charlie Hendren, Rachel Laird and Emily Yong dressed in pink semi-utility style pyjamas, drifting between childlike imagination and adult self-awareness.
Much of the production’s charm lies in its physical invention. The ‘Yawn Ballet’ and ‘Snooze Routine’ sequences are particularly engaging, capturing the slow surrender of the body to tiredness, while the ‘Snore Ballet’ brings gentle humour to the rhythms of rest. At its best, the choreography, shaped by Ayşe Tashkiran, is expressive and layered, revealing the performers’ skill in transforming mundane actions – brushing teeth, setting alarms, fluffing pillows – into hugely recognisable, fluid and dreamlike movement. The eclectic musical score by Yaniv Fridel and Ofer OJ Shabi, moving from gentle lullabies to pulsing electronic beats, gives the show an appealing unpredictability.
However, this same variety sometimes tips into incoherence. The movement and text often pull in different directions, and the tone wavers between scientific explanation, surreal dance and comedy. It’s never entirely clear whether the performers represent children, parents or some form of dream consciences, and this ambiguity distances the audience rather than inviting them in.
The ‘In My Dreams’ sequence, in which the cast relive fragments of strange or frightening dreams beneath billowing blue duvets, offers striking imagery – hands and feet emerging like strange creatures. Yet its darker tone feels at odds with the lighter, more playful material that surrounds it. A moment featuring a sinister blue blob of slime and whispered fears of loneliness (“my friends were mean to me”) has emotional potential, but the scene’s pacing and sound design left many young spectators unsettled rather than intrigued.
Audience participation is enthusiastically delivered but poorly managed. A section inviting children to suggest ‘sleep positions’ and then join the cast on stage begins promisingly but loses purpose as the sheer mechanics of getting the children onto the stage dissipates the focus. What might have been a moment of connection becomes cluttered and confusing with the interaction feeling more like an interruption than an integral part of the choreography or narrative flow.
The closing moments, however, find a gentler rhythm. Dozens of pink pillows emerge and transform the space into a shared play space, and a lullaby sequence bathed in the warm light of pendent mobiles headdresses, restores a sense of calm. It’s a touching ending that encapsulates the show’s best qualities: musicality, physical storytelling, tenderness and an instinct for reassurance.
The Sleep Show is a warm-hearted but uneven piece needing some dramaturgical review – visually appealing and full of creative ideas, yet too loosely structured to fully engage its target audience. Peut-Être Theatre’s trademark inventiveness and care for children’s emotional worlds are evident throughout, but the blend of abstract dance, research-based storytelling and audience interaction never quite coalesces into a satisfying whole. Like a restless night, it drifts in and out of focus: dotted with lovely dreams, but never quite finding deep calm sleep.
Created and directed by Daphna Attias
Designed by Cecilia Carey
Lighting by Joshua Gadsby
Sound by Ellie Isherwood
Dramaturgy by Maya Politaki
Composer & Musical Direction by Yaniv Fridel and Ofer OJ Shabi
Costume supervision by Isobel Pellow
Movement direction by Ayse Tashkiran
Assistant movement direction by Laure Bachelot
Vocals by Nina Luna Fridel
Studio engineering by Yevgeniy Poberezhnyu
The Sleep Show is aimed at ages 4+ and you can read more about it in our interview with Daphna Attias. This production is now touring across the UK until Sunday 8 March.
