The Sleeper 

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Matthew Beard

Sarah Churm

Henry Devas

Rachel Austin

Jason Done

Maxine Peake

Danielle Henry

Kevin Doyle

Josiah Castle

Susan Roberts

Stephen Deazley

Michael Symmons Roberts

Michael Symmons Roberts - The Sleeper

Drama: SciFi & Fantasy

The Sleeper

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Michael Symmons Roberts - The Sleeper

In a future Britain, people have gradually lost the gift of sleep - or have they?

In a future Britain, people have gradually lost the gift of sleep - or have they? Starring Maxine Peake and Jason Done.

A fable for our times. A future British society as it is today - except human beings have gradually lost the gift of sleep. 

Michael Symmons Roberts’ verse drama.

With music composed by Stephen Deazley adapted to create a soundtrack mixing speech, poetry and chorus. 

Society is strained to breaking point by 24-hour wakefulness. 

The government has cracked down on subversive images of sleep. People work around the clock. Hotels are for private meetings and illicit sex. Shops never close. 

Into this paranoid world, a teenage girl emerges, a girl who can sleep. Protected by her friends, she goes on the run from the authorities who are keen to control and study her gift. The group ends up living in a city centre squat, surviving as a group by shoplifting and begging. 

The group grows increasingly anxious and fractious, with Ellah (the sleeper)'s boyfriend Jamie lapsing into cultish beliefs in the 'old gods', in which lullabies are chanted as prayers, worshipping sleep. Some of the other group members join in these rituals. Keller, the level-headed natural leader of the group, is struggling to keep the peace. 

Hungry, scared and sick of being pursued, the group receives an offer of help from a wealthy man - known by the nickname Hypnos - who says he will protect them. 

But what does he want in return? 

Keller    ......    Matthew Beard
Ella    ......    Sarah Churm
Jamie    ......    Henry Devas
Sara    ......    Rachel Austin
Davis    ......    Jason Done
Harper    ......    Maxine Peake
Somnos    ......    Danielle Henry
Hypnos    ......    Kevin Doyle
Boy    ......    Josiah Castle

With music created from the original WNO Youth commission by the composer Stephen Deazley.  

Performed by members of the Welsh National Opera Orchestra and Youth Opera 

Directed in Salford by Susan Roberts 

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2013.

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