Haruki Murakami's SLEEP
Adapted by Naomi Iizuka
Directed & Devised by Rachel Dickstein
Original Score Composed by NewBorn Trio
(Katie Down, Miguel Frasconi, & Jeffrey Lependorf)
SLEEP had its NYC premiere at BAM Next Wave Festival in December 2017 in Brooklyn, NY. The World Premiere was at Annenberg Center Live in Philadelphia October 2017. SLEEP toured to Yale Repertory Theatre's No Boundaries Series in March 2018 and is available for future touring through Octopus Theatricals.
SLEEP is an immersive theatre work based on the short story by internationally acclaimed author Haruki Murakami. A young Japanese housewife suffers a terrifying dream and then suddenly stops sleeping. In a new nightmarish and beautiful sleep-deprived world, the constrictions of her prescribed role melt away, releasing a new self who takes risks, indulges in what is forbidden, devours Tolstoy and chocolate, and embraces what is unpredictable and dangerous. This seeming "escape" however, leads her to a world of lawlessness and danger that she never expected. Sleep examines how we push against the constraints of everyday life, transgress and rebel, and free fall through broken boundaries set up by society around us.
Set Design by Susan Zeeman Rogers
Projections Design by Hannah Wasileski
Lighting Design by Jiyoun Chang
Sound Design by Matt Stine
Costume Design by Ilona Somogyi
Production Stage Manager: Lisa McGinn (BAM, Annenberg) and Dee Dee Katchen (Yale)
Assistant Director: Sebastian Pray
Ensemble: Akiko Aizawa, Brad Culver, Takemi Kitamura, Paula McGonagle, Jiehae Park, and Saori Tsukada.
“A gorgeous and surreal adaptation of the Haruki Murakami short story!”
“The production, directed by Rachel Dickstein, is extremely sophisticated… a feast of mood-setting sound from exotic instruments and all manner of lighting effects that make Murakami’s strange inner world palpable.”
Commissioned by BAM, Annenberg Center for the Arts and Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, CA. Sleep was developed with the support of PlayCo at the Japan Society and at the Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep. Video footage by Kaitlyn Chandler, 2017.
Photos by Max Gordon from BAM Next Wave run and by Susan Zeeman Rogers from Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts premiere.
Photos by Max Gordon from BAM Next Wave run and by Susan Zeeman Rogers from Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts premiere.
Photos by Max Gordon from BAM Next Wave run and by Susan Zeeman Rogers from Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts premiere.
Photos by Max Gordon from BAM Next Wave run and by Susan Zeeman Rogers from Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts premiere.
Photos by Max Gordon from BAM Next Wave run and by Susan Zeeman Rogers from Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts premiere.
Photos by Max Gordon from BAM Next Wave run and by Susan Zeeman Rogers from Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts premiere.
Photos by Max Gordon from BAM Next Wave run and by Susan Zeeman Rogers from Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts premiere.
Photos by Max Gordon from BAM Next Wave run and by Susan Zeeman Rogers from Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts premiere.
Photos by Max Gordon from BAM Next Wave run and by Susan Zeeman Rogers from Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts premiere.
Photos by Max Gordon from BAM Next Wave run and by Susan Zeeman Rogers from Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts premiere.
Photos by Max Gordon from BAM Next Wave run and by Susan Zeeman Rogers from Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts premiere.