It’s easy to scare children with talk of Boogeymen and Bloody Marys, creatures in the closet, or things that go bump in the night. But we adults are immune to such terrors, right? Right?

The Velvet Sky, making its world premiere at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, borrows liberally from such classic childhood nightmares, from bony fingers that grab from out of nowhere to fierce, raptor-like birds which glide in ominously during many moments of the production. But these tricks are used in conjunction with real-life, non-supernatural fears. The Velvet Sky goes places dark enough to keep parents, not just their children, up at night. The result is unsettling, as it’s meant to be.

The main character, Bethany Palmer (Jeanine Serralles) in fact, has been up at night for the past thirteen years. Ever since the birth of her son, Andrew (Matthew Stadlemann), she’s been convinced that the mythical Sandman has been after him. She believes he can come to no harm if she stays awake at her post, so she’s neglected to sleep until his thirteenth birthday, when she believes he’ll be safe. Though he’s somehow managed to live though 12 years and 364 days of his wife’s insomnia, Warren Palmer (Will Gartshore) reaches his breaking point the night before Andrew’s birthday, and kidnaps his son to take him to a new life in New York City. Andrew escapes, in search of adventure and a glimpse at the seedier side of NY, and his parents wander the city looking for him.