Can't sleep - won't sleep

Not a chance.

Bethan doesn’t want to sleep. She’s afraid she won’t dream, she’ll have nightmares. Or worse.

And so she doesn’t sleep. She chooses not to.

Instead, she develops an elaborate system of rituals in order to survive the hours of night.

That’s the premise of this week’s Oran Mor play, The Wakeful Chamber.

The play has been inspired by the work of Aberdeen’s Royal Astronomer Sir David Gill alchemy, fantasy and bats and explores what happens to our sensory perception when familiar routines are under threat.

Kim Allan plays the sleepless lady and her enthusiasm for the role reveals she’s captivated by her character.

“What Bethan does is measure time, light, distances, stars, until day breaks and the world around her wakes up,” she says.

“What we learn is that something has happened to her, in the not so distant past, and because of that she tries to somehow make sense of the night.

“She’s refusing to sleep, because there is so much going on in her head that she has to do.”

And has to fear?

“Well . . . ,”says Kim, smiling cautiously. “Bethan looks at light and counts it. She listens. Hard.”

Kim adds; “I don’t want to give away the ending, but she does come to a realisation.”

Chronic somniphobia (fear of sleep) isn’t uncommon.

“No, I’ve been reading about it,” says the actress. “There are a lot of sufferers.”

But won’t Bethan become ill?

“Well, she sleeps for a few minutes at a time during the day, but she sets an alarm to make sure she rings up.”

Kim Allan, who grew up in the outskirts of Glasgow in South Lana4rkshire, seems perfect for a role which requires an intelligence and enigmaticness – plus the ability to convey confusion and mystery.

One of the most in demand actresses in the country, she’s recently enjoyed roles in BBC drama Outlander and starred in theatre in the likes of The Year of the Hare, at the Edinburgh Festival.

Since leaving drama college in Motherwell, where she took a BA in Acting, she’s also starred in plays such as Trainspotting.

Interestingly, her first degree choice was Zoo-ology and Music.

“I’m not really sure why,” she says, smiling.

“My parents met on the stage, they were both in am-dram and acting, for me, was inevitable. But for some reason stopped doing it for a while and then went back to it.”

There are no regrets. In fact, Kim has worked for Cbeebies and in the past year and has been filming a new major drama for Sky TV, Five.

And it’s a certainty further key television roles will follow.

Now, she’s appearing at Oran Mor, and she isn’t exaggerating when she reveals how excited she is at the prospect.

“When I was at drama college, I made a wish list of what I wanted to do in the coming years and one of those things was to appear at Oran Mor.

“To do it in this play is quite fantastic.”

But not so head spinning as to cause her to lose sleep?

“We’re all losing sleep these days,” she sighs.

“The world is always awake. For example, my best friend lives in San Francisco and the only time I can talk to him is 1am when he’s walking home from work.

“And the news is always going on. You can get it on your phone, tablet, TV, everywhere. And that means we never really switch off.”

She adds, smiling; “I sleep okay, for most of the time. Unless there is really something going on in my head.”

On stage with Kim in this play by Rebecca Sharp is David Rankine, who provides more than the musical accompaniment.

But is he a character in the play? Is he the antagonist? Is he the supportive boyfriend?

“We find out as the play progresses,” says Kim in deliberately mysterious voice.

• The Wakeful Chamber, Oran Mor, until Saturday.