![]() I followed her from there to the piano room, where she was joined by a woman in a sparkly dress. She built up a bed of pillows in a low-ceilinged room. I started by following, alone, a maid wandering the halls by herself it was the rare occasion when I wasn’t surrounded by other masked patrons. There, I saw the only cohesive bit of story unfold, in part because I chose to stay and rest in the room with the piano and lounge chairs. I spent most of my time on the bottom floor, more because I was lost than because I had chosen to be there. The action never stops at “Sleep No More,” and if you do it right, you’ll end up with a glimpse at action that usually happens off-stage. I once found another actor there, alone, psyching himself up, in character, to enter the bar, and I followed him in for a confrontation. When the action slowed, or I got tired of not being able to see anything since I made the mistake of being polite and short - you have to aggressively elbow other people out of the way, for fellow patrons form crowds and swarms, eagerly blocking your view - I would occasionally venture out into the hallway. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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