Festivals

In 2020, our researchers joined forces with IF Oxford and a local theatre company, to produce a video play.

small hours explores why we need sleep and what happens when we go without it. It probes the mysteries of human circadian rhythm, the daily pattern of wakefulness and sleep, and how this can be either disrupted or adjusted.

Filmed during the COVID pandemic in different locations across Europe, join this journey of self-exploration created by Mandala Theatre as it explores the rise in sleep problems that people have experience during the pandemic. It tells the unsettling story of four characters imprisoned in their own worlds and suffering in different ways with sleeping problems.

Mandala Theatre is an Oxford based company that nurtures young talent from diverse backgrounds in the creative industry. Sleep deprivation and associated problems has become a hot research topic during the pandemic for neuroscientists in Oxford. Together we explore the question: how do people get a decent night’s sleep in these difficult times?