Arts Centre Melbourne to Host Sleepover for Families

For one special night on Saturday 22 August, Arts Centre Melbourne will host is first ever sleepover for children aged 8-11 and their families. The award-winning Arena Theatre Company has created a night full of adventure where children are invited to explore parts of the theatre that nobody ever sees.

Children and their families will have the opportunity to explore dressing rooms, under the stage and through mazes of corridors where they will be invited to play and create and at the end sleep on the Playhouse stage.

The unique event, which quickly sold out, will make the 60 participants the stars of the night with all the performances adding up to make something much bigger.

Arena Theatre Company has created an immersive theatrical experience that will take the audience through the maze of Arts Centre Melbourne, incorporating performance, games, activities and an exclusive insight into the backstage world of making theatre.

Arena Theatre Company has been making acclaimed and inspiring theatre for young people for 50 years. They have assembled a brilliant team of artists including Artistic Director Christian Leavesley, Associate Artist Jolyon James along with Ben Grant, Phil McInness, Clare Watson, Emily Barrie, Sophie Ross and Penelope Bartleau.

Director Christian Leavesley said The Sleepover will be a wild, theatrical adventure.

"We've excavated the amazing warren of passageways and rooms that make up the Playhouse, and we're funnelling all of that history and imaginative potency to create a night that I honestly think will define Arts Centre Melbourne for the participants for the rest of their lives,' Leavesley said.

"Melbourne's Arena Theatre Company has a history of producing theatre for young people that neither patronises nor preaches to its audience" The Agea