Recently, my friend Michael Weldon ecstatically expressed to me that any trip to New York “absolutely required” a visit to ‘Sleep No More’, a theatrical play based in Chelsea’s McKittrick Hotel. I did some research and realised that this was going to be a very unique theatrical experience. I learned that this play was the story of Macbeth but set as a Hollywood crime drama in the 1950s. ‘Literature’ & ‘crime-thrill’ sounded like a punishment-cocktail to me but alas, I put my reservations to the side & clicked ‘confirm reservation’.
The reviews for the Shakespeare adaptation are extremely enticing, the most relevant being from the Huffington Post ““One of the most entertaining and involving works of theater you’re likely to see! If you have any sense of adventure, this is theater you don’t want to miss.” Adventure is key here because this isn’t a show you go watch passively with a bag of popcorn, this is an immersive, engaging experience that sees you walking between sets and experiencing the action however you so decide, literally standing ‘within the scene’. I kept expecting a director to call “cut!” and have the lights turn on brightly to reveal the wider studio-set that we were part of.
Here are 6 reasons you Need to See ‘Sleep No More’
- You have the experience of being transported back in time, walking into an enchanting 1940s style bar as you first enter.
- You can be exposed to actors’ emotions closer, and more realistically than any other form of entertainment in life.
- You’re able to multi-task as you combine a theatre experience with a ‘work-out’ with 2-3 hours walking around a hotel, up and down-stairs in and out of rooms (wear flat shoes ladies!)
- There is an opportunity to have a personally-nurturing individual experience (even if you go with someone you are encouraged to go on a solo journey and meet up later on).
- You’ll be able to tell your children you went to one of the world’s first immersive-plays (since they’ll no doubt develop as a genre after this).
- You get to keep the mask.
So, if you have the opportunity to step into Sleep No More either in NYC, or if it tours into major cities – do yourself the favor & try the unknown. This is where an original idea meets quality performance and the result is enthralling.
Click Here for the Official ‘Sleep No More’ Website
Have you seen Punchdrunk’s ‘Sleep No More’? Let us know what you thought, comment below.
*Image Source Mordicai
Leave a Reply