THE SLEEPER AWAKES
A Live A/V Performance Reimagining H.G. Wells’ Dystopia
When synth-and-drum duo AK/DK invited us to collaborate on a bold new live experience, we leapt at the chance to bring H.G. Wells’ dystopian novel The Sleeper Awakes into a new era. With support from Arts Council England, Brighton Dome, and Shoreditch Town Hall, the result was a politically charged, multi-sensory performance blending live music, animation, theatre, and film—a powerful collision of literature and live art.
Plume vs AK/DK
Part gig, part warning shot, The Sleeper Awakes was a genre‑defying show that toured nationally—placing audiences at the heart of a world unraveling under the weight of unchecked power, automation, and greed. At the centre: a man who sleeps for 200 years, only to awaken as the unwitting figurehead of a brutally unequal regime.
We created:
Original animated visuals, synced live with the score
Narrative sequences that layered with theatre and voiceover
A visual language that fused retro-futurism with political urgency
Themes We Explored
Surveillance, control, and the illusion of progress
The cost of stability in a plutocratic state
Collective dreams of uprising—and the danger of passive hope
Why It Matters
This was more than adaptation. It was a wake-up call. We wanted audiences not just to witness a dystopia—but to feel complicit in it. As swirling projections engulfed the space and drums thundered into the night, one question lingered: will we wake up in time?
Want to push storytelling further?
We love collaborations that defy categories—where music meets image, where live performance meets political thought, where tech meets soul. Get in touch if you’re dreaming in those same directions.