AN AMBITIOUS NEW PLAY hitting the boards in London next year won’t mind if you fall asleep during it – in fact, it’s absolutely encouraged.

‘Lullaby’, from the Duckie theatre and entertainment company, will ask theatregoers to show up at 10pm, change into their pyjamas, and brush their teeth – being ready for bed at 10:30pm.

When the performance begins, patrons will be assigned to beds, given a soothing performance to lull them off to a good night’s sleep, and leave them there for the night.

The next morning, they’ll get a wake-up call, be offered use of the showers at the venue (the Barbican Pit Theatre in the centre of the city) and get a breakfast.

The whole show will cost £42 – cheaper than most hotel rooms in the capital, and not much dearer than an average ticket to most West End shows.

“Theatre is often challenging and confrontational, but we’re not having any of that,” the show’s producer Simon Casson told Reuters. “It’s going to be comforting and cosset you, like your mum or dad reading you stories at night when you were a child.

“I had a lovely sleep through the West End production of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ not so long ago. It happens to all of us.”