The Sandman

Dearnley, Elizabeth

Abstract

'Time for bed, children - the Sandman's coming...'

Based on E. T. A. Hoffmann's eerie tale of the same name, The Sandman invites you to step into the memories of troubled young man Nathaniel, haunted since childhood by a sinister figure he calls 'the sandman'.

Guided by Nathaniel's voice, follow him as he leads you through the house he once knew as a boy, and up the stairs to a room filled with his half-forgotten childhood memories - where he is finally compelled to look the past in the eye.

The Sandman was commissioned by the Freud Museum London as part of its The Uncanny: A Centenary exhibition, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Freud's 1919 essay The Uncanny. Hoffmann's tale is a touchstone throughout Freud's essay, credited with evoking 'a quite unparalleled atmosphere of uncanniness'.

Staged as an audio-visual installation around the Freud family home in Hampstead, this reinterpretation of Nathaniel's story invites audiences to explore the house through the eyes of a young boy, encountering doubles, Arduino-controlled magic mirrors, dolls, and other unsettling things along the way.

Citation

Dearnley, E. The Sandman. [Immersive theatre installation]. Exhibited at London, UK. 30 October 2019 - 8 February 2020. (Unpublished)

• Exhibition Performance Type: Exhibition
• Start Date: Oct 30, 2019
• End Date: Feb 8, 2020
• Deposit Date: Nov 16, 2023
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/3387282
• Related Public URLs: https://redhoodproductions.co.uk/sandman.html