You Can Sleep When You're Dead
“What began as an idea has come into being as a very ambitious immersive theatre piece. Directors Hady, Orlando and Tom Arthur Davis effectively induce chills in every member of the audience.”
Campbell House Museum presented this interactive theatrical experience that invited the public to explore what happens when a person suddenly passes away with unresolved issues so powerful they do not fully crossover to the other side.
For two weeks, the Campbell House became host to these tortured spirits.
Each story is set in a different era, spanning various floors and rooms throughout the house. A live heart is ripped from a chest while you extend your sympathies to a grieving family at a wake. A man of god fights to save an innocent soul from demonic possession on the second floor. A brutal strangling takes place in the dining room, while in the kitchen below a man barters his life with the cook… hoping for tasty results. A secret society invites you to join them—will you accept?
You Can Sleep When You’re Dead
conceived and created by
OMAR HADY and MICHAEL ORLANDO
with writing contributed by
GLYN BOWERMAN, DAVID JAMES BROCK,
OMAR HADY, GRAHAM ISADOR and
KAT SANDLER
directed by TOM ARTHUR DAVIS, OMAR HADY
and MICHAEL ORLANDO
musical direction by EMILYN STAM
sound design by TIM LINDSAY
associate producer SIGRID VELIS
featuring
DAVID CHINCHILLA, DANIEL DE PASS,
TALIA DELCOGLIANO, EDUARDO DIMARTINO,
COLIN EDWARDS, ROBERT FEETHAM,
THOMAS GOUGH, MICHAEL LUCKETT,
EN LAI MAH, ERICA OVERHOLT, PAT PARISELLI, KARIN RANDOJA, LESLEY ROBERTSON,
AARON ROTHERMUND, LEA RUSSELL,
JAMIE SAMPSON, ROSELIE WILLIAMSON, MICHELLE URBANO and ANDREW YOUNG
Production Details
- Co-Production with the Campbell House Museum, Toronto, ON. (October 2013)
Press Quotes (only the favourable ones, really)
“But the haunted nature of the series of small plays isn’t “Gotcha!” in nature, it’s the slow dawning realization that something profoundly worrying underlies things which initially seem normal. Overall, You Can Sleep When You’re Dead ranges from good to very good, with a few piercing moments.”
“In terms of smaller-budget shows, You Can Sleep When You’re Dead, from the five-year-old indie company Theatre Lab, has transformed Campbell House, the oldest remaining house from the old Town of York, into a haunted historic site for Halloween.”
“The two best works are by Sandler and Brock. In the first, a grieving family – or are they? – await the reading of the paterfamilias’s will, but a surprise visitor shows up to take what’s legally hers. Sandler’s expert at blending tart, bitchy comedy and gruesome action. In the second, the most creepy of the five, a cook prepares a meal for a demanding family as two men, whose relatives are known for their good taste, offer various ingredients for her dishes. Turns out she has an alternative idea for a source of victuals. That scene also features the evening’s most subtle performances, by Erica Overholt as the cook and Colin Edwards as the young fellow who eagerly offers to help her.”
