Photo credit: Mihaela Bodlovic
An Tobar and Mull Theatre presents the world premiere of
Night Waking
by Shireen Mula, adapted from the novel by Sarah Moss
Directed by Rebecca Atkinson-Lord
A remote Scottish island. A sleep-deprived mother. A grave you were never meant to find.
Anna Bennett should be writing a book. Instead, she’s counting the minutes of lost sleep, peeling a toddler off her leg, and Googling ‘Victorian infanticide’ at 3 a.m. Her ornithologist husband is out studying puffins, oblivious. Her sons are running feral. And when she and her eldest uncover something in the garden—something small, something wrapped in wool—it becomes clear that history isn’t just a thing she studies. It’s here. Underfoot. And it won’t rest quietly.
Night Waking is a sharp, strange, and darkly funny exploration of motherhood, colonialism, and the ghosts we inherit. As Anna ricochets between present-day exhaustion, historical letters, and a past that won’t stay buried, she is forced to confront what it means to nurture, to protect, and to fail.
Adapted from Sarah Moss’s novel by Shireen Mula, this one-woman play is a feat of acting virtuosity—a fragmented, fevered journey through sleepless nights, long-lost voices, and the things that won’t stay hidden.
For anyone who has ever craved silence but feared what might fill it.
Age guidance: 12+
Running time: 2 hours plus interval.
Sunday 28 Sept - Mull Theatre
Monday 29 Sept - Mull Theatre
Wednesday 29 Oct - Iona Village Hall
Thursday 30 Oct - Bunessan Hall
Friday 31 October - Dervaig Hall
Playwright: Shireen Mula
Director: Rebecca Atkinson-Lord
Set, Lighting and Video Designer: Hugo Dodsworth
Sound Designer: Nicolette MacLeod
Costume Designer: Sarah Jane Booth
Associate Director: Ben Standish
Accent and Dialect Coach: Hilary Jones
Production Manager: Louise Gregory
Technical Stage Manager: Fergus Waldron
Producer: Mark Iles
Adapted from the novel by Sarah Moss
Tour dates and venues:
Mull Theatre
The Traverse Theatre
Macrobert Arts Centre
Beacon Arts Centre
Lyth Arts
Eden Court
The Macphail Centre
Applecross Community Hall
Catstrand
Theatre Royal, Dumfries
The Byre Theatre
Paisley Arts Centre
Dunoon Burgh Hall
Craignish Village Hall
Seil Island Community Hall
The Rockfield Centre
Iona Village Hall
Bunessan Village Hall
Dervaig Community Hall
Sunday 28 & Monday 29 Sept
Wednesday 1 Oct
Thursday 2 Oct
Saturday 4 Oct
Tuesday 7 Oct
Wednesday 8 Oct
Friday 10 Oct
Saturday 11 Oct
Thursday 16 Oct
Friday 17 Oct
Sunday 19 Oct
Tuesday 21 Oct
Wednesday 22 Oct
Friday 24 Oct
Saturday 25 Oct
Sunday 26 Oct
Wednesday 29 Oct
Thursday 30 Oct
Friday 31 Oct