From the Archivist’s Desk
Tucked away in the mustier corners of the Theatre Village archive, I’ve come across a story that stirs more than just the dust. Night Waking, a new one-woman adaptation by Shireen Mula, brings Sarah Moss’s haunting novel to life with remarkable intimacy and bite. Directed by Rebecca Atkinson-Lord, this quietly explosive piece opens on the Isle of Mull before embarking on a journey across Scotland—and into the restless mind of a woman teetering at the edge.
Set against the eerie beauty of a remote Hebridean island, Night Waking flickers between sleepless nights and buried histories, between the demands of motherhood and the silences of empire. It’s both a gripping mystery and a searing meditation on memory, maternal ambivalence, and the echoes of lives long forgotten.
SopPrepare for something quietly radical. This is one for those who like their theatre smart, sharp, and unsettlingly close to home.
Based on the novel by Sarah Moss, Night Waking is a new one-woman stage adaptation by
Shireen Mula (Why Is The Sky Blue?, Southwark Playhouse) tracing the restless mind of a woman
at breaking point. This enigmatic show follows a historian consumed by maternal ambivalence,
historical silences and a creeping sense that what she’s studying might be closer to home than
she realised. Directed by Rebecca Atkinson-Lord, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of An
Tobar and Mull, the production opens on the Isle of Mull before touring across Scotland and
beyond.
Set on a remote Hebridean island, Night Waking follows Anna Bennett, a sleep-deprived
historian and mother, struggling to complete her research while caring for two young children.
Her husband, an ornithologist, is often away monitoring puffins. The isolation and lack of sleep
begin to take their toll—until Anna and her eldest son discover something buried in the garden.
The past begins to intrude on the present in unexpected and disturbing ways.
Sarah Moss, author of Night Waking comments, It’s at once uncanny and delightful to see my
novel, and especially my narrator, take a new form on stage. I love the way the one-person show
intensifies the book’s interest in interiority, reliability and all the voices in the scholar-mother’s
mind.
The play moves between contemporary domestic life and fragments of historical
correspondence. As Anna attempts to piece together the mystery she uncovers, the production
explores questions of motherhood, colonial legacy and what it means to live with inherited
histories.
Rebecca Atkinson-Lord, comments, What excites me about Night Waking is the way it speaks the
unspeakable parts of motherhood—the exhaustion, the fear, the isolation—and does so with
wit, sharpness and emotional clarity. But what makes it truly remarkable is how it also unearths
the buried legacies of empire and colonialism in Scotland. It’s a play that asks big questions
about who gets remembered and who gets forgotten, and how the past haunts our present—
personally and politically. It’s unsettling, intelligent, and deeply human. I’m incredibly proud to
bring this story to audiences across the country.
Night Waking captures the raw tension between academic detachment and maternal
unravelling. Flickering between biting humour and unbearable tension, this solo performance is
an urgent portrait of modern womanhood—told through the lens of deep time, buried secrets
and sleepless rage.
https://www.antobarandmulltheatre.co.uk
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