Sleep Over
Also known as: The Sleep Over, Choose Your Own Adventure
A mono-character form: each actor plays one character from start to finish of the show.
Full description
Flow
Sleep Over mixes elements of the Monoscene, the Deconstruction and La Ronde. The Monoscene is one scene in one place and one stretch of time. The Deconstruction takes one long two-person scene and spends the rest of the show pulling it apart. La Ronde is a structure built on characters.
1. Mantras
First, you get a suggestion of words of advice. It inspires some sort of inner truth or want. Each actor chooses their own phrase and repeats it, mantra-like. This goes on until everyone is onstage and each is repeating their own.
2. Retreat to the back wall
One by one, actors retreat to the back wall until only two are left. Those two repeat their mantra one last time and begin the scene.
3. Editing through statues
The whole back line edits the scene — the actors at the back wall step forward together, hold a pose and repeat their original mantras. One of the two characters then selects one of these statues, and that statue initiates the scene. This is very important: it means the statue cannot pre-plan an initiation.
4. Every scene after that
This scene and all subsequent scenes are edited in the same way. The person selecting the statue can be anyone who has already been activated for a scene.
5. Mixing
Once everyone has been introduced, characters mix and match with each other.
Context
Resources
What to try next
Similar formats, so you can keep the rehearsal moving without stopping to search.
La Ronde
Long-form of two-person scenes in a circle. Each performer plays one character across two consecutive scenes, revealing different facets in different situations.
Deconstruction
A long-form where one grounded scene becomes the foundation — every beat that follows deconstructs it through thematic scenes, commentaries, and a rapid-fire run. Two le…
Monoscene
Long-form played as one continuous scene in one location, in real time. Scene changes happen only through entrances and exits — no wipes, no edits, no tap-outs.
Harold
The foundational long-form format: one audience suggestion spawns three independent threads that organically converge through callbacks, heightening and group mind. Haro…
Convergence
Long form. Several long scenes with a small cast have nothing in common at first, but by the finale they weave together and reveal the connection between them.
Associations and Dissociation
A warmup for quick thinking and associative agility: three escalating modes from direct response to dissociation, where you deliberately avoid any connection.