Sleep science goes onstage
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Dancer Maria Dabrowska performs in new Fringe Festival show Sleep/Wake.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Sleep science goes onstage
Art meets science in a new theatre production opening in Wellington this month that explores the science of sleep.
Sleep/Wake blends dance, science and performance design to explore the world of the unconscious, revealing those things
that lie dormant within us: hidden performances of the self – obsessions, ambitions, and dreams.
Internationally-recognised sleep expert Professor Philippa Gander of the University’s Sleep/Wake Research Centre has
teamed up with Wellington director and designer Sam Trubridge to create an exciting theatre experience.
Professor Gander says Sleep/Wake blends draws on the latest sleep science to tell the story of waking up – physically,
metaphorically and politically.
“An important part of being an academic is presenting your research to the public," she says. "I wanted to do something
completely novel. Sleep/Wake gives me the opportunity to share sleep science in a creative way.”
Mr Trubridge says although we all sleep for about a third of our lives, most of us know little about what actually goes
on during that time.
"When we sleep we don’t perform but the moment we wake up, we enter the world again." he says. "We start to put on our
costumes, our make-up, building ourselves up until we’re ready to face the world – and ready to take the stage.”
Sleep/Wake will be performed in eight shows at The Print Factory, a warehouse previously occupied by a printing business
in King Street, Newtown, Wellington, the first on 31 January.
Performers include Elizabeth Barker, James Conway-Law, Maria Dabrowska, Claire Middleton and Ella Robson-Guilfoyle.
Original music and sound design are by Bevan Smith, and lighting is by Marcus McShane. Bookings are at Ticketek.
ENDS