27th Street, and travel down a dark hallway, where they check their coats and bags. Guests enter the hotel through large and (save for a small plaque outside) unmarked double-doors on W. The name of the town and some of the characters (as seen in prop letters found in the performance space, and the show's souvenir program) are references to the Paisley witch trials. Various papers, pamphlets and menus inside the performance space and at the building's dining establishments identify the show's setting (indoors and "outdoors") as the fictitious town of Gallow Green, Glamis, Forfar, Scotland. Sleep No More is set in a building with five floors of simultaneous theatrical action, putatively called the McKittrick Hotel, though with many rooms and features not normally associated with hotels. The email that guests receive upon their impending experience does note that the work is best experienced individually, and that audience members might experience "intense psychological situations." Overview A prop letter from Macbeth to Lady Macbeth In their exploration, audience members can come upon instances of full nudity, bright lights (including strobe lights), lasers, fog, and haze, as well as being separated from the rest of their party. It is also best described as immersive theatre, rather than interactive theatre, because although the audience may move through the settings, interact with the props, or observe the actors at their own pace, their interference has no bearing on the story or the performers except in rare instances.Ĭontrary to what some believe, Sleep No More is not any kind of haunted attraction. Sleep No More's presentational form is considered promenade theatre, in which the audience walks at their own pace through a variety of theatrically designed rooms, as well as environmental theatre, in which the physical location, rather than being a traditional playhouse, is an imitation of the actual setting. Sleep No More adapts the story of Macbeth, deprived of nearly all spoken dialogue and set primarily in a dimly-lit, 1930s-era establishment called the McKittrick Hotel, whose website claims it has been recently "restored" but which is actually a block of warehouses in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, transformed into a hotel-like performance space. Sleep No More won the 2011 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience and won Punchdrunk special citations at the 2011 Obie Awards for design and choreography. The company reinvented Sleep No More as a co-production with Emursive, and began performances on March 7, 2011. It is expanded from their original 2003 London incarnation (at the Beaufoy Building) and their Brookline, Massachusetts 2009 collaboration with Boston's American Repertory Theatre (at the Old Lincoln School). It is primarily based on William Shakespeare's Macbeth, with inspiration also taken from noir films (especially those of Alfred Hitchcock), as well as some reference to the 1697 Paisley witch trials. Sleep No More is the New York City production of an immersive work of theatre created by the British theatre company Punchdrunk. McKittrick Hotel and environs, Gallow Green, Glamis, Forfar, Scotland McKittrick Hotel, 530 West 27th Street, New York City There are still a bunch of episodes that I need to rewatch, but I can't imagine To Sleep No More won't make my "Best of" list when I'm finished.One of the audience masks used in the production. I don't think I've written much about Ian McShane's acting, but he's capable of playing the many facets of Lovejoy with equal aplomb. We also get to see many of the different aspects of the Lovejoy character, from the rascally conniver who's taken advantage of an unsuspecting (but not undeserving) buyer to the benevolent do-gooder disguised as a priest in his efforts to help a widow. Throw in some comedy, a bit of history, and secret treasure vault, and To Sleep No More has it all. We're treated to pub scenes, English countryside scenes, and posh dinner party scenes. The episode takes its time to tell the story - there's no rush here. If you're paying attention, it's not too difficult to figure out the solution, but it's the journey that matters. The mystery is good and, as a viewer, we're allowed to play along. If someone were to ask me for an episode that sums up what I love about Lovejoy, I might pick To Sleep No More. The box is a worthless copy, so why would anyone want to steal it? Lovejoy discovers the box may be the key to valuable cache of antiques. When a local forger (I mean copyist) dies, his widow seeks Lovejoy's assistance in retrieving a stolen silver snuff box.
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