Magic, acrobatics and 3D animation might not be a part of your child’s bedtime routine, but why not? Thankfully, you don’t have to don your own leotard and tights and climb the high wire  or be sawn in half by a magician to find out… Just pack your pillows and blankets and head to the magical Bedtime Stories showing at Stratford Circus Arts Centre. 

A magical family show, Bedtime Stories opens with a little girl preparing to fall asleep. As her mother settles down to read a bedtime story, she is – yet again – distracted by the pressures of work. So the little girl sets out to rescue her mum with the help of Three, her imaginary friend.

Children will be mesmerised by all the tricks and magic, while parents find themselves reflecting on how they personally balance the ever-present pressures of work and home

A theatrical partnership between Upswing and Stratford Circus Arts Centre, Bedtime Stories has been designed so that families can bring along their own pillows and blankets and cosy up together to enjoy the magic, acrobatics, 3D animation and theatre of this coming-of-age adventure – an immersive experience that touches on risk, loss and the seeming dangers of growing up…

Director (and Founder of Upswing) Vicki Amedume explains that in this show she explores the ever evolving issues for parents and their children around their connection, their attachment and the gap that develops as children get older.

She explains that when she was a child, her own mother often had to work nights. “While she was at work she would record tapes of stories for us to listen to the next night so we could still have our bedtime stories,” Vicki says. “My nephew is now nine and I record stories for him, continuing this little family tradition. He is growing up fast, and that involves an increasing distance between people, a stretching of boundaries as independence forms.”

Amedume’s experience staging shows for UK and international festivals and as an Associate Producer for Greenwich and Docklands Festival staging large-scale outdoor events is evident in this collaboration of circus performers, 3D animators as well as actors and writers, and there are astonishing special effects to complement the performances. So get your kids ready for some Bedtime Stories this weekend – your bedtime story time will never be the same again!