Whether we’re watching seduction or violence - and in this show, there’s a thin line between the two - it all unfolds in a kind of dance, graceful and mesmerizing. At one point, one of the ushers in black backed the group of about 40 of us up against a wall so that the men could spar.īecause there is no dialogue, everything has to be physicalized. In a sawdust-filled room with a bar, a pool table and a small wooden table surrounded by stools, a man mixed drinks, played cards and was eventually joined by a woman and a violent madman. Photo by Yaniv Schulman.Īlong the way, I caught glimpses of action that never felt part of a cohesive whole. (I, however, never saw her in any other form.) I wandered through a dark, labyrinthine room with a dirt-covered floor, where an actor was standing in tableau, and where I suspected the witches, whom I never saw, would eventually make their incantations. I later discovered this was Lady MacDuff and that she didn’t start the show pregnant. I saw fragments of action I didn’t understand, including a very pregnant woman in a spotlight, reaching out in tears and pain, toward a disappearing man at the other end of the hallway.
Following this advice, I made my way downstairs, finding a room with a single bathtub - where I had been told blood would be spilled at some point - as well as a padded room, an apothecary shop, a bedroom where a couple cuddled and fought, and a doctor’s office. It’s easy enough to spend all your time exploring the elaborate 1920s-style sets, but you’ll miss out if you don’t see any of the story acted out. Often, the lounge-like rooms were accompanied by a jazz-age soundtrack, crackling like an old, scratched record.īefore arriving at “Sleep No More,” I had been advised by a friend who had attended years ago that to get the most out of the experience, you should follow the actors. The level of detail that goes into dressing each room is impressive, and each room feels lived in.
#BROADWAY SHOW SLEEP NO MORE SERIES#
I also wandered through a maze of blue Christmas trees and found a series of small rooms with couches, desks and books. There, I found a room with several empty bathtubs where a nurse was laying out wet shirts as if they were being worn by men sitting in the tubs. I began by wandering the floor I’d been deposited on.
#BROADWAY SHOW SLEEP NO MORE FREE#
The rules are laid out by a flirtatious guide: you’re free to explore, but you are not to utter a sound while you do it. From there, you’re handed a white mask and ushered into an elevator to be taken up to the top floor of the complex - that is, of course, assuming you aren’t the last one into the elevator, for that person is first deposited, alone, on a lower floor. Upon arriving at the McKittrick, and after checking all coats and bags, you’re sent down a twisting, barely lit hallway, until you reach the lounge where drinks are served and several bands will eventually play. Spanning six stories of the complex called the McKittrick Hotel in Chelsea, you spend about three hours - or less, if you’re as unlucky as I was to be pulled out of it too soon - exploring an extremely elaborate set and following actors, racing from one room to the next, as they act out a story very loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” Part immersive theater, part installation art, this Off-Broadway production produced by the British company, Punchdrunk, began its run in New York in 2011, and it’s still running, often to sold-out shows. Sleep No More is produced by Emursive (Jonathan Hochwald, Arthur Karpati, and Randy Weiner) in association with rebecca gold productions.Chances are, you’ll leave “Sleep No More” at least a little dissatisfied and frustrated - it’s designed that way, to get you to come back - but it would be hard to deny that it’s anything but intoxicating. Reopening plans will be done in compliance with state and local government, COVID-19 protocols, and are subject to the approval of the NY State Department of Health and the Governor. Design associates are Beatrice Minns and Livi Vaughan.
Expect a blend of acrobatic choreography, film noir soundtrack, and 100 rooms of detailed atmosphere sprawling over 100,000 square feet.įelix Barrett directs and designed the production, with choreography by co-director Maxine Doyle and sound design by Stephen Dobbie. In Sleep No More, audiences move freely through the story at their own pace, choosing where to go and what to see. The sensory theatre spectacle, which debuted Off-Broadway in April 2011, will be presented Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 7 PM, Fridays at 7:30 PM, and Saturdays at 3 PM and 8 PM. Sleep No More, the Macbeth-inspired immersive theatre experience from the British theatre company Punchdrunk, will reopen at The McKittrick Hotel beginning October 4.
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