![]() ![]() Maxine Doyle's athletic choreography is strenuous (even brutal), recalling the work of Pilobolus and Elizabeth Streb. This is a show to take in with all five senses, driven forward by a gutsy and committed cast. Blood and sweat soak the men's tuxedo shirts as the evening progresses. David Israel Reynoso's costumes are a gorgeous synthesis of American gothic shabby and F. The set design (by Barrett, Livi Vaughan, and Beatrice Minns) is wonderfully baroque, featuring six floors and 100 rooms full of dark corners and little details: Open books and scattered letters provide clues (and red herrings) to the plot a fully stocked candy store invites us to taste we can feel the texture of the floor change from tile to stone to dirt as we move from room to intricately designed room. Underscored by Stephen Dobbie's heart-pounding sound design, Sleep No More is the closest you can come to being inside a video game. The biggest variable is the audience, untethered to seats and embedded in the play. The other thanes get drunk downstairs and the witches wander the halls, causing mischief. As the Macbeths plot in their bedroom, King Duncan retires from the party. You can never see the whole thing in one visit, but overall it loosely tells the story of Macbeth, Shakespeare's tale of a Scottish thane who commits regicide at the urging of his ambitious wife and three fortune-telling witches. Directors Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle have ingeniously staged the play in real time, with action happening in multiple rooms simultaneously. ![]() You may even feel the urge to follow them, although that is entirely your choice. Hecate (Onalea Gilbertson) rises from her table in Sleep No More.Īfter wandering the space for a bit, you will start to notice unmasked characters storming down the hallways and ducking behind walls. The bellhop takes us into the elevator, distributing guests on various floors and breaking up groups: Sleep No More is an individual journey and guests are encouraged to travel alone in silence. From there we are handed white Venetian masks and instructed to wear them for the entirety of the show. After a trip down a narrow and winding hall, you land in Manderley, a dimly lit bar populated by Scotch-swilling and flirtatious hosts. That is clear from the moment you step up to the front desk and the concierge hands you your room key: a playing card. In fact, it remains the best show in New York owing to a combination of imagination of rigorous execution. ![]() I am happy to report that, five years on, Sleep No More is still as bewitching as ever, the gold standard of immersive theater. Having loved the show on previous visits, I hesitated to return, knowing how a production tends to sag and creak with age. The play is still the thing, however, that draws people to this spooky corner of Manhattan. The latter is a great spot for pre-show drinks, or just to hang out if you're not seeing the show. Since opening their doors in 2011, the proprietors have added a restaurant (the Heath) and a rooftop bar (Gallow Green). That would be the McKittrick, a sprawling complex on West 27th Street designed specifically for the show. At least, I felt as though I was dreaming through most of Emursive and Punchdrunk's Sleep No More, a massive environmental adaptation of Macbeth set in a ghostly Jazz Age hotel. Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. ![]()
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