Sweet Dreams

An audio play by Mike Kenny, plus a podcast series and an interactive game created by Tutti Frutti in association with Naked Productions, perfect for sleepyheads aged 3 years and over.

Listen to our 30-minute dreamy audio play, themed around the wonders and benefits of sleep, plus three amazing podcasts presented by the delightful Zoe Salmon. Zoe introduces an array of interesting guests all talking about how to get a great night’s sleep. Before you leave, there is a fun interactive Sleep Time Karting game to play too!

Sweet Dreams follows the interstellar adventures of Ivy and her toy rabbit, Bun Bun. Every night bedtime comes around, but tonight they cannot sleep. When Ivy and Bun Bun find themselves alone on the moon, sleeping is not so easy. Ivy tries her best to sleep but she just can’t!

It’s too dark! The stars are too bright! Earth is too noisy! And now the galaxy is too quiet to sleep!

Join this funny and charming double act on their quest to find a perfect place to sleep under the stars. This out of this world audio adventure includes celestial songs composed by Christella Litras. If you can’t sleep, won’t sleep or love to sleep there is something in this 30-minute audio play for you.

Generously funded by the Wellcome Trust and Garfield Weston Foundation.

Podcast for school staff – health and wellbeing for children to thrive in school

An informative podcast all about sleep presented by ambassador for The Sleep Charity, Zoe Salmon. Listen to invited guests Prof Colin Espie, the Professor of Sleep Medicine at the University of Oxford, talking about the science behind why we need sleep, CEO of The Sleep Charity, Vicki Dawson, and Year One teacher, Caroline Lister, who explore some of the problems primary teachers and school staff face when they have children in class who they believe may be sleep deprived.

Podcast for families – health and wellbeing for families to be happy

An insightful podcast all about sleep presented by ambassador for The Sleep Charity, Zoe Salmon. Listen to invited guest, Claire Earley, sharing her true-life story of sleep deprivation and how it was overcome, and sleep practitioner, Helen Rutherford, talking about bedtime boxes – a clever technique to help young children get to sleep at night.

Podcast for children – to play before bedtime to help you relax and fall asleep

A dreamy podcast presented by ambassador for The Sleep Charity, Zoe Salmon, who introduces you to her friend Bun Bun the rabbit from the Sweet Dreams audio play. He is going to help you feel calm and sleepy with soothing music by Christella Litras.

It’s time to snuggle up, get cosy and relax…..

Sleep Time Karting Game

Try our fun interactive game Sleep Time Karting, to play with your children. The game has been developed to find out about our audiences’ sleep behaviour and will support the Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust‘s future work.

This game contains five multiple choice survey questions on your child’s sleep routines. The data generated cannot be traced back to an individual player. The data will provide insight into sleep routines for the Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust to help them with further research, which in turn will help children and families with sleep conditions and sleep problems.

To aid better sleep we recommend you do not play the game or use screens during the hour before bedtime. This game has been designed to be used on a desktop or laptop using the keyboard.

Click the blue arrow to play

All the audio and game content is underpinned with research about sleep behaviours in children and families supported by our partners, The Sleep Charity and Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

Thank you to all the artists who contributed to the development of the ideas for Sweet Dreams: Sandrine Monin, Catherine Chapman, Warda Abbasi, Izabela Janina Duszenko, David Sappa.

This project was developed during the Coronavirus pandemic under safe conditions – recorded and worked on remotely at the homes of the creatives.

Read about the key findings and outcome of the Sweet Dreams project

Creative Team

Zoe Salmon

Zoe Salmon is the award winning Television Presenter who hails from Bangor, Northern Ireland. Zoe is an Ambassador for The Sleep Charity and supports the charity to raise awareness of the importance of sleep and its impact on our health.

Vicki Dawson

Vicki is the CEO and Founder of The Children’s Sleep Charity. She set up the charity to support children to get a good night’s sleep so that they can meet their full potential.

Ruth Kingshott

Ruth settled in Sheffield in 2002 where she works as a Paediatric Sleep Physiologist at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

Professor Colin A Espie

Colin is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, the Royal Society of Medicine, and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Colin is actively involved in print, TV and social media regarding the science of sleep.

Polly Thomas

Polly Thomas is an award winning audio drama director and producer, with a track record in theatre and short film. Polly worked in house for BBC Radio Drama in Manchester for 10 years and has been freelance since 2008.

Paul Cargill

Paul has been a Sound Engineer for the BBC for 40 years in a career spanning Radio, TV and Film. Paul worked as an SM at Bush House, Broadcasting House, Egton House and Maida Vale on everything from the Today Programme to Sport, Music and Schools Radio.

Mike Kenny

Writer

Mike Kenny is one of England’s leading writers specialising in young people’s theatre. He was included in the Independent on Sunday’s list of Top Ten Living Playwrights and his plays are performed regularly throughout the UK and internationally. Mike won the 2015 Writers' Guild Award for Best Play for Younger Audiences with Three Wise Monkeys.

Louis Blatherwick

Louis is a young sound recordist specialising in audio drama and creative audio. He has worked on numerous audio projects across BBC Radio 4, Radio 3, Audible, and The Guardian, as well as being a recent recipient of the New Creatives North commission.

Juliette Coquet

Juliette Coquet is a multidisciplinary designer from Paris, France, focusing on art direction for physical and digital experiences. She has a background in graphic design, 3D modelling and interactive installations. Her practice also involves creating video games and virtual reality experiences.

Helen Rutherford

Helen Rutherford is a trained Specialist Sleep Practitioner, has worked with children with additional needs for over 30 years and is a Family Liaison Officer for a special educational needs school in Worcestershire.

Heather Elphick

Heather is Consultant in Paediatric Respiratory and Sleep Medicine. Having trained at Alder Hey and Melbourne Children’s Hospitals, Heather now leads the sleep service at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, managing a comprehensive range of sleep conditions including complex sleep apnoea and narcolepsy.

Dr Dylan Yamada-Rice

Dr Dylan Yamada-Rice is Acting Head of Information Experience Design at the Royal College of Art. Her research is at the intersection of experimental design and social sciences, focusing on the design of digital storytelling, games and play on a range of platforms for children such as apps, virtual reality, and content for television.

Dimitris Menexopoulos

Dimitris Menexopoulos (a.k.a. Menex) is a versatile composer, sound designer, audio technologist and multi-instrumentalist from Thessaloniki, Greece.

Claire Earley

Claire Earley is a mum to a young man with complex disabilities and health needs who experienced severe sleep issues for the first 8 years of his life. Resolving Jack's sleep issues was the driving force that motivated me to train as a sleep practitioner to help families in similar circumstances. I have been supporting families to get a better night's sleep for over 13 years.

Christella Litras

Musical Director

Christella Litras is a songwriter, musician, composer, vocal arranger, record producer, creative support officer (Leeds Playhouse) and founding member of Caution Collective. She composed the musical score for Windrush: Movement of the People by Phoenix Dance Theatre, which celebrated the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the SS Empire Windrush.

Arman Ataman

Arman Ataman is a new media artist who designs experimental ways to tell stories. He uses a wide range of media, such as video games, vr, sound design, creative coding, interactive design, and fine arts among others.

Caroline Lister

I came to Leeds to study Psychology at the University and loved the city so much that I stayed. I went on to become a primary school teacher working in inner city schools. I have always valued the arts both in family life (I’m a mother of five boys) and at work, leading the subject in each school I have worked in.

Touring Team

Bay Bryan

Bay Bryan is a performance artist based in Manchester originally hailing from the small town of Golden, Colorado (USA). Since graduating from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow (2012) Bay has worked across the industry as an actor, singer, musician, dancer and composer.

Hannah Victoria

Hannah’s theatrical performances include Gerda in Snow Queen, The Little Mix Tribute Show, and the UK and international tour of Madagascar. Whilst in training she was cast as Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act and Crystal Gordon in Bad Girls, The Musical. Hannah graduated from Edge Hill University in 2018 with a BA (Hons) in Musical Theatre.

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