A couch-back puppet show
Bear Can’t Sleep
Humphrey the bear cannot sleep, and it’s going to take every breather in the room to fix it.
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Tonight’s cast & their voices
Humphreythe bearleft hand
Voice: Slow, low, and chest-deep, with real yawns — every line a little slower than the last.
Sagethe owl · any puppet can play this partright hand
Voice: Soft and high, like a gentle clock chime — never hurried, full of long ooo sounds.
Props (raid the kitchen)
- A small blanket or tea towel (Humphrey’s sleepy blanket) (optional)
- Dim the lights, if you can reach the switch (optional)
Scene 1
The Sleepy Hollow
🎭 Humphrey’s den. A sofa cushion is the leaf pile. Play this one slow, and let the pauses be long — the show works best as the very last thing before bed.
Action
Humphrey flops onto the cushion. Then flops the other way. Then upside down, feet where his head should be.
Humphrey(grumbly, upside down)
Nope. Nope. This pillow is broken.
Action
The cushion folds over Humphrey’s snout. He freezes, then slowly turns to look at the audience.
Humphrey(deeply offended)
It ate my nose.
Humphrey
I have tried EVERYTHING. I counted bees. I fluffed the leaves. I lay upside down like a bat.
Humphrey
Bats make it look so easy.
Action
Sage glides in and lands on the couch back with a soft hoo.
Sage
Hoo… slow and low. I heard flopping. Flopping means somebody can’t sleep.
Humphrey
Sage! My sleep is lost. Did you see it fly past?
Sage
Hmm. What did it look like?
Humphrey
Cozy. Sort of… drifty. It purrs a little.
Sage
Ah. That kind. It never goes far. It hides close by — and sleep is shy. It waits for still.
Action
Sage quietly tucks the sleepy blanket (or one soft wing) right behind Humphrey’s back. The audience sees it. Humphrey doesn’t.
Sage
In fact… I believe it’s hiding somewhere this very moment. Lookouts, tell him where.
🎉 Everyone together
Tell Humphrey where his sleepy blanket is: “BEHIND YOU!”
Humphrey(confidently wrong)
Behind me? Nonsense. I’m checking this pillow.
Action
Humphrey turns the wrong way entirely and pats the cushion. The blanket stays in plain view behind him.
🎉 Everyone together
He STILL hasn’t seen it! Once more: “BEHIND YOU!”
Humphrey(turning the wrong way again)
Behind me? I just LOOKED behind—
Action
Humphrey spins slowly all the way around and comes nose to nose with the blanket. A long pause.
Humphrey(suddenly whispery)
Oh. There it is. Hello, blanket.
Action
Humphrey pulls the blanket around his shoulders and sinks onto the cushion, still wiggly.
Humphrey
The blanket is here and my sleep is not. My paws want to wiggle. My tummy wants to rumble.
Sage
Then we won’t chase it. We’ll breathe it closer. Owls know a trick — but it only works if everyone does it.
Action
Sage turns to look at the audience.
🎉 Everyone together
Breathe with Humphrey. Hands on your tummy, like a bear. Breath one: in through your nose, sloooow, like sniffing warm honey… and out, like cooling a big bowl of soup.
Sage(softly)
Hoo… slow and low. I felt that one. Watch his paws.
Action
Humphrey’s paws stop wiggling, one by one.
Humphrey(half-speed, dreamy)
My paws stopped. Somebody tell my paws I’m proud of them.
🎉 Everyone together
Breath two: fill up like a balloon… hold it for one owl blink… and let it go, soft as snow.
Sage(barely above a murmur)
Hoo… slow and low. That one reached his ears.
Action
Humphrey’s ears droop, one after the other. His head sinks lower on every breath.
Humphrey(slower still)
Ears… sleepy…
Sage(almost a whisper)
Breath three. The quietest one there is.
🎉 Everyone together
The softest breath yet: in… … and out… so gently you barely move.
Action
Humphrey sinks a little lower on every word until only his ears show over the cushion.
Humphrey(trailing off)
Sage… it’s coming back… it purrs, you know…
Action
A long pause. Then one enormous, slow bear snore.
Sage(whisper)
Hoo. There it is.
🎉 Everyone together
Whisper it together, soft as you can: “Goodnight, Humphrey.”
Sage(the gentlest whisper)
Hoo… slow and low. He’ll chase blueberries in his dreams now. Big, slow, happy ones.
Action
Sage bows one slow, silent bow and settles beside Humphrey. Leave him snoring exactly where he is.
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