SLEEP: A ONE-ACT MUSICAL

EVEN THE SMALLEST PEOPLE HAVE BIG STORIES.

The first musical written entirely by Andrew Esquer. Karen and Matt are a young couple madly in love. Life hasn't been easy for them, though—Karen's family have never liked Matt, and an accidental pregnancy in high school complicated matters further. Now several years (and hundreds of miles) removed from the anguish caused by her family, the couple has weathered the storm and is living in relative, if tormented, contentment. Underlying tensions threaten to throw their tenuous stability into turmoil, though, when Karen's father, Don, pays them a surprise visit with urgent news—news which he will only share with Matt. SLEEP is an emotional journey that examines some of life's heaviest questions, and suggests that, despite all the little differences we have that drive us to hatred, our fundamental humanity is all we need to find love and happiness. 

SLEEP originally debuted as a 20-minute musical as part of Fresno City College's TEASERS series of student-created, student-run short plays, and was the first musical in TEASERS history. The original version, along with the six other plays performed as part of TEASERS' 2016 edition, played to full houses from May 2–4, 2016. Due to the audience response to the show (including acclaim from Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival critical respondent Jim Holmes), it is now being developed into a more fleshed-out one-act musical.