Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - A Dreamy Midsummer Play at the Globe Theatre

Starting point is 00:00:00 Get Sleepy is a production of Slumber Studios and is made possible thanks to the generous support of our sponsors and premium members. If you'd like to listen ad-free and access weekly bonus episodes, extra long stories and our entire back catalogue, you can try out premium free for 7 days by following the link in the episode notes. Now, a quick word from our sponsors. Welcome to Get Sleepy, where we listen, we relax, and we get sleepy. I'm your host Thomas and as always it is such a pleasure to have your company. Tonight's story was written by Frankie and I'll be reading it to you. We're going to travel back to the 1500s to Elizabethan London where we'll accompany 10 year old Will as he attends his first play with his father. Get Sleepy Premium is the very best way to listen to the show and we'd love for you to try it.

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Starting point is 00:02:08 or follow the link in the show notes to learn more. Thank you so much my friends. Before we find ourselves in the bustling city of London, we need to take a moment to wrap up the here and now. Pull your focus into your body. Start down at your toes and feet. They have been carrying you around all day and deserve a good long rest. Move up your legs making sure your knees and hips are properly supported. Next is your core and chest. Take a moment to notice the rise and. Place your hands on your chest for a few breaths and feel your heartbeat. Finally, your head and neck should be held by your pillow, providing a safe place to rest for the night. We move inside your head to your most powerful muscle, your brain. As thoughts from the day crop up, gently put them aside. Don't feel the need to police your thoughts, but rather encourage yourself to let go of

Starting point is 00:04:32 any pressing issues from the day. You can return to them another time. Now we turn our attention to Elizabethan London. It's populated by Tudor-style buildings with thatched roofs. with thatched roofs. The street is busy with the buzz of life as we center on Cheapside in the shadow of St. Paul's Cathedral. This is where our story begins. Will awoke that morning, filled with expectant joy. Today was the day. He was going to see a play. He climbed out of bed and rushed to the window. A perfect sunny day greeted him.

Starting point is 00:06:17 He ran into the other room to find his parents already up. His mother was cooking breakfast, and his father was reading a broadsheet. When he entered the room, they both looked up and smiled. As Will opened his mouth to speak, his mother pressed her finger to her lips and gestured to a small cot near the fire. His baby sister, Lizzie, was fast asleep. He silently scampered to the kitchen table and hastily ate his porridge. When he finished, he ran back to his room and threw on the clean clothes his mother had laid out for him the night before. Golden sunlight was beaming through the window now. Will poked his head out of the window and watched the people passing below.

Starting point is 00:07:44 and watched the people passing below. It was like a sea of golden blondes, fiery reds, earthy browns, and glossy blacks, all bobbing here and there. Occasionally, a horse cart would pass by, clip-clopping along the stone streets. Will ducked back inside and headed to the door. His mother kissed him before he followed his father out of their apartment and downstairs to their shop. Will's father was a tailor and owned the shop they lived above. Will spent most days this summer helping his father in the shop. He would measure the clients, fetch tools, and help his father cut the fabric.

Starting point is 00:09:01 His father was even teaching him some basic sewing skills. His parents had assigned him the responsibility of darning the family socks. And his father had been so impressed with his work that he had agreed to take Will to a play. But first, they had some chores to do down in the shop. A few clients were coming today to pick up new suits and repaired clothes. pick up new suits and repaired clothes. Sure enough, not long after they opened the store, Mr. Bellows came in to pick up his new suit. Will liked Mr. Bellows, a jolly man who always kept sweets in his pocket.

Starting point is 00:10:18 As he waited for Will's father to fetch his suit, he listened intently while Will excitedly told him about their plans for the afternoon. Mr. Bellows paid for his suit and warned Will he might get something called the theater bug. Chuckling at Will's confused face, Mr. Bellows left the shop. Mr. Bellows left the shop. No morning had ever seemed to go on longer for Will. Finally, his father said it was time to close up. Will raced around the shop, doing his final chores as fast as possible, and was practically jumping for joy when his father followed him onto the street and locked the shop behind him. Their shop was the only tailor on Bread Street, which was packed with bakeries.

Starting point is 00:11:34 Will and his father stopped at their favorite one, owned and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Miller. While Will's father bought two hot pies from Mrs. Miller, Will asked Mr. Miller why he was called Miller if he was a baker. Mr. Miller responded by asking Will why he claimed to be a boy when he was clearly a silly goose. Laughing, Will and his father went outside to eat their lunch. Will could see the top of St. Paul's Cathedral to the west. He gazed up at the huge building and asked his father why it didn't have a spire like other churches. Will's father told him that there had been a lightning strike when he was a take 200 more to build a new spire. Will looked back at the building, trying to imagine it with a giant pointed hat on top. They finished their lunch and headed off. They turned east in the

Starting point is 00:13:32 opposite direction of Blackfriars. Will knew there used to be a church there, too, but now there was a theater. This was how Will became so determined to see a play. While in the area, one day early in the summer, Will saw boys his age going into the large, imposing building. He asked one of them what they were doing, assuming they were choir boys. The boys told him they were actors and they were going to practice for a play. were actors and they were going to practice for a play. For weeks, Will asked everyone that came into his father's shop for everything they knew about plays. Actors playing kings and monsters and clowns, people appearing like magic from the floors and ceilings, epic stories from far away places. Theatre sounded amazing. He knew he had to go. His father had relented and promised to take Will to see a play at the brand new Globe Theatre.

Starting point is 00:15:28 Theatre. Will was slightly disappointed not to see a play at the Blackfriars Theatre where he had met the boy actors, but once his father explained that they were going to see Mr. Burbage, he made no complaints. Mr. Burbage was one of Will's father's clients. He was a tall man with a huge, booming voice. Mr. Burbage told the best stories and laughed so loud Will was certain they could hear him over in Westminster. They turned south to cross the London Bridge and caught sight of the River Thames. In comparison to the respectful calm around St. Paul's, the bankside was bursting with life. Fishermen were dotted here and there, boats floated up and down the river,

Starting point is 00:16:48 packed with goods going to and from the city, and people of all kinds were jostling one another. Will stayed close to his father as they walked across the bridge as it was so crowded. He looked down at the water which sparkled in the sunlight. It was as if the surface was dusted with thousands of glittering fairies. Across the bridge, they turned west to Southwark. This side of the river was much less built up, and Will saw the theater long before they reached it. A three-story tall wooden ring sat impressively, waiting for Will to arrive. At the top, Will could see a flag snapping in the wind. He was so excited, he wanted to run the rest of the way to the globe, but his father wanted to save his energy as he would be standing for the next few hours.

Starting point is 00:18:30 They came to the gates of the theater, and Will's father paid a man two pennies to let them inside. The ground in the yard was covered with golden rushes. Three quarters of the huge wooden oe were levels of seating. Will noticed the clothing of the people in the seats became finer the higher up the seats went. The final quarter was taken up by a stage that jutted out into the yard. Two large columns went up to the top of the theater and supported a peaked roof. At the back of the stage was what looked like a two-story building with a balcony. There were several several doors and windows dotted around. The other people standing in the yard were gathering eagerly close to the stage. Will and his father joined them. As they stood in the crowd, Will's heart began to sink. There were so many people around him,

Starting point is 00:20:13 there was no way he would be able to see anything. Just then, the men in front of him turned around to look at Will. They asked if it was his first play. He told them that it was. Better make sure you can see then, said one of the men. They began carving a path through the other audience members, politely asking each one touring him he was in for a treat. Will found himself at the edge of the stage, as close as he could possibly get to where would take place. A horn sounded, and the crowd let out a cheer. The play was about to start. The actors entered, and Will was immediately enthralled. entered, and Will was immediately enthralled. He had never been so close to kings, queens, and dukes as he was now. They walked elegantly back and forth across the stage, declaiming in their powerful voices. Before Will knew it, the characters had

Starting point is 00:22:14 left the safety of the palace and entered the magic of the forest. He stared, open-mouthed at the fairies. Part of him knew they were men in costumes, but another part truly believed that the magical beings flitted amongst them, bickering and plotting. He laughed harder than he had ever done in his life at the men trying to put on their play. He nudged his father when the tailor came bumbling on, and giggled even harder. The character that captured Will's attention most was Puck the Fairy. There was something special about this performer. Will couldn't take his eyes off the character. He wondered how they managed to make his ears so pointed and his eyes so bright. Will was sure that no other living man could be so light on his feet and scurry around the stage as this puck did. As the play went on, the various lovers ran around the forest, loving and not loving one another.

Starting point is 00:24:14 One man's head was turned into that of a donkey, and the whole crowd laughed together when the fairy queen fell in love with him. When the true lovers were reunited, the clowns held a play back at the palace, and Will fell about with belly-aching laughter as the tailor pretended to be the moon. Will didn't notice the time flying by, and before he knew it, the actors were taking their final bows. were taking their final bows. Will clapped the loudest and hardest, wishing desperately that he could whistle like his father. He knew in that moment that he was captured, heart and mind, by the theater. As the actors left the stage, it was as if Will was brought back from some incredible dream.

Starting point is 00:25:41 He looked up at his father and beamed. His father whispered to him that there was one more surprise in store for Will. They moved against the crowd to a small door near the stage. Will's father knocked and a man answered. They spoke in hushed tones for a few minutes. Will took in the emptying theatre. Will took in the emptying theater. As the audience filed out, Will admired the way the blue summer sky crowned the place. He loved the way the space seemed to be filled with energy, with stories waiting to be told even when empty. Will's father told him that they would wait in the theater for a few minutes.

Starting point is 00:27:01 Will turned and faced his father, striking a pose. He pretended to put a spell on his father, turning his head into that of a donkey. His father chased Will around the empty yard, braying and laughing. They were interrupted by a and looking at Will. Mr. Burbage introduced Will to each actor and they asked him about the show. The words tumbled out of Will's mouth like a waterfall. He loved every single moment of the play. The actors were very kind, and Mr. Burbage even hinted that Will might apprentice with the acting company one day. One quiet man in the back smiled kindly at Will when they were introduced. He was the playwright, the person who made up the words and told the actors what of him. He thanked Will for coming and told him to be careful of fairies

Starting point is 00:29:12 on his way home. All the other grown-ups laughed, but Will met the writer's eye and knew he was serious. As Will and his father left the theater and headed back towards home, the young man's head was swimming with exciting thoughts. man's head was swimming with exciting thoughts. He considered what it would be like to step on stage. He could almost feel the thrill of having 3,000 pairs of eyes watching him. He imagined the feeling of the stage under his feet and the fine costumes on his body. Will wanted to become a pirate, a king, an outlaw, a long-lost prince, a king, an outlaw, a long-lost prince, a lover, and a fairy. He knew his ambition now was to into the afternoon now, and the sun was heading dutifully towards Westminster. They walked at an easy pace and felt no need to speak.

Starting point is 00:31:09 Will was wrapped up in his dreams of the theatre, and his father was musing on his son. The other inhabitants of London drifted past them. Everyone was heading home to enjoy the long, but when he blinked, the figure was gone. The top of St. Paul's came back into view over the buildings as they drew closer to home. It stood like a silent guardian over Cheapside. As they reached home, Will's father stopped him and knelt in front of him. Will looked into his father's kind eyes and knew that his father could see the burning passion for performance newly lit in his own eyes.

Starting point is 00:32:41 His father smiled and told him to go upstairs to his mother. Will told his mother every detail of the play. She laughed at the antics of the fairies and gasped at the trials of the lovers, all while rocking Baby Lizzy. Will's little sister never took her eyes off him as he pranced and strode around the living room, as he pranced and strode around the living room, reenacting the best scenes for his captivated audience. Too soon, it was time for bed. Will kissed his parents and his sister Will kissed his parents and his sister before climbing into his own bed. The sun was barely setting despite the late hour. Through his window streamed golden rays. As he relaxed against his soft pillow and curled under the quilt that his mother made for him, Will started to feel the exhaustion in his legs. He stretched right out and then relaxed his entire body.

Starting point is 00:34:34 Just as his eyes were drooping and he felt himself releasing into sleep, he thought he heard a voice in the distance. If we shadows have offended, think but this and all is mended, that you have but slumbered here while these visions did appear. The voice was musical and cunning in equal measure. It was familiar, and yet, Will felt it had an otherworldly quality. The voice was lulling him to sleep, and Will gave in gladly. And this weak and idle theme, no more yielding but a dream, and as I am an honest Puck." Will was drawn to the voice and followed it deeper into his dreams. He knew Puck was leading him somewhere magical, a place he would never find in the waking world. Puck's voice was louder now, and Will could hear silvery bells.

Starting point is 00:36:21 Else the Puck a liar call, so good night unto you all. Give me your hands if we be friends, and Robin shall restore remence." Will opened his eyes and found himself in a lush forest clearing. All around him, bright flowers dotted the green grass. Huge ancient trees lined the clearing. The sky was a vibrant shade of purple and dotted with silver stars. A huge crescent moon hung in the beautiful sky of fairyland, lighting up the forest as if it were day. The bells had grown louder, but Will now knew they were peals of laughter. He turned to the edge of the clearing and followed the sound. Just out of sight and at the corner of his vision, Will could sense the fairies watching him. They g their shining faces to him and

Starting point is 00:38:35 beckoned him to an empty spot amongst them. Some were like flowers with petals in their hair. Others were fairies of the trees, long and lean. Will noticed one fairy in particular sitting next to him and peering at him with bright eyes. The puck smiled at him and wiggled his pointed ears. Will laughed and was glad to spend the night amongst the fae, though he knew it would be Come morning. You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You. you

Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - A Dreamy Midsummer Play at the Globe Theatre

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