Blue Hour at Theatro Technis

What happens when the things that haunt us in our sleep begin to bleed into our waking lives?

BLUE HOUR, a new play exploring dreams, nightmares and intergenerational trauma, premieres at London’s Theatro Technis on 16th and 17th November as part of Voila! Theatre Festival.

Created by East 15 graduates Kim Rechsteiner, Giverny Masso and Nasia Dalla, BLUE HOUR takes its name from the brief period before sunrise and after sunset: the transition between day and night, and the space between waking and dreaming.

Blending comedy, horror and physical theatre, this boundary-blurring production shifts between the waking and dreaming lives of two couples as they navigate their own blue hours, facing uncertainty in their relationships, their identities and their futures.

The play grew out of the co-writers’ own dream journals, alongside a survey exploring recurring symbols in dreams and nightmares and extensive research into sleep psychology and intergenerational trauma. The result is a piece that probes the strange, sometimes disturbing worlds our minds create when we are asleep and asks what our dreams might reveal about the lives we lead when we wake.

Sanja and Owen have just moved in together in Portsmouth. Owen is ready to start a family, but Sanja is troubled by a recurring dream that draws her back to her roots in Germany. Something doesn't feel quite right, and the future they are planning together may not be as straightforward as Owen hopes.

Meanwhile, Marie and Kara are in love, but neither seems able to fully settle into their relationship. Marie flits between different pursuits in the chaos of London life, struggling to find her place, while Kara, a Greek photographer, finds herself increasingly unsettled by the strange things Marie does in her sleep.

As the boundaries between reality and dreams begin to blur, both couples must confront what lies beneath the surface.

Directed by multi-award-winning director, actor and writer Anca Vaida, BLUE HOUR features a cast of six: Giverny Masso as Marie, Nasia Dalla as Kara, Kim Rechsteiner as Sanja, Arne van der Esch as Owen, Suha Ali as Celeste and Myrtó Katsoulidou as Iris. The performers bring experience spanning physical theatre and movement-led work, including training with companies such as Gecko Theatre and Frantic Assembly.

Movement direction is by Rebecca Goh, whose work draws on philosophy and physical theatre, while Agatha Vornicu makes her theatre set and costume design debut with the production.

BLUE HOUR is presented as part of Voila! Theatre Festival, which runs across London from 2–22 November 2026. Celebrating panlingual and migrant-led performance, the festival brings together 450 artists across eight venues, presenting

101 shows and events in 60 languages. It provides a platform for early-career artists and work that challenge boundaries across language, identity and theatrical form.