Review: Sleep Can Wait! at the Unity Theatre ****1/2

There’s no more delightful and heart-warming sound than the joyful giggle of a small child.

And little voices are given a big platform in the Unity Theatre’s seasonal family offering Sleep Can Wait! which offers lots of gigglesome moments.

After being missing in action for several years, it’s great news that a proper Christmas show for young ones has returned to the Hope Place stage. And I’m happy to report it’s as enchanting as you’d expect.

It’s Christmas Eve and Steph, Sam and Mariana (the real first names of the performers – surnames Greer, Duran and Pires respectively) have been packed off to bed. But of course, they’re far too excited to drop off.

Instead, they whip each other up into a frenzy of anticipation, larking about as they tap into the creativity of young minds – and the imagination sparked by a good book - to turn their bedroom into a world of adventure.

Favourite toys are their beloved companions, a bunkbed is transformed into a climbing frame, a ship and a shadow puppet theatre among many other uses (its ladder, detached, becomes a platform and prison), and the room’s furniture and fittings are turned into treasure chests, a snowman and a rocket – the latter at the heart of a particularly magical scene.

Above: A spaceman went travelling...Samuel Perez Duran sets off for the stars. Top: Duran, Stephanie Greer and Mariana Pires. Photos by Alan Blundell Photography.

Meanwhile along with the main trio, stage manager Sarah Han moonlights late on in the hour-long show, bringing Gemma Bond’s puppets to life.

Budgetary constraints mean it’s all pretty lo-fi. A trio of tablets appear at one stage but are soon discarded by the disinterested ‘children’, leaving it purely to the power of imagination in delightfully retro fashion and proving you don’t need expensive technology to entertain you (as we oldies who found wonder in a cardboard box will attest).

And the young theatregoers of 2025 love it.

Particularly the moments of audience participation, be they dancing on stage, being sprayed with water pistols, or having the chance to pull a sword from a stone – the little lad, rechristened Arthur by the cast, who presented himself to attempt the feat on Friday teatime was fully in the moment as he lifted Excalibur high before being robed and crowned, with said crown slowly slipping down over his eyes.

Above: A young audience member channels his inner King Arthur - with a too-large crown. Photo by Alan Blundell Photography.

Sleep Can Wait! is less a fully formed festive story and more a vibe, tapping into the raw excitement and expectation of children waiting for Father Christmas to come.

It’s not just the kids who find themselves entranced by it all. For the adults in the room, it’s a catalyst to remember our own younger, more innocent and carefree selves.

I vividly remember waking up early on Christmas mornings (2.30am was my record, not long after my parents had gone to bed) and hovering at the top of the stairs or – if daring – sneaking down to probe a pillowcase of presents sitting by the tree. Happy memories.

Created in collaboration with Tmesis Theatre, directed by Tmesis and Unity Theatre artistic director Eli Randle and with a beguiling original soundtrack by Meike Holzmann, Sleep Can Wait! is a charming Christmas confection.