![]() Danvers from Rebecca, you might have a Suspicion that she’s the victim of a sinister plot (Hitchcock references abound!). When she’s given a glass of milk by a woman resembling Mrs. ![]() You may find that the hotel registry you just leafed through suddenly becomes a prop for a very pregnant Lady Macduff (delicately performed by Alli Ross on the night I attended) who enters the musty lobby, eager to check in. The evocative environments (a taxidermy shop, a graveyard, a nursery, a grand ballroom, a psychiatric ward) unexpectedly become 360-degree sets for the performers who constantly rush about. Open any door and drawer that intrigues you (one closet reveals a secret passage). The mazelike series of fully dressed rooms (over 100 of them) are crammed with fascinating details that reward curiosity. Some theatergoers may feel unmoored at first, but the freedom quickly becomes intoxicating. In Sleep No More, participation essentially means going wherever you choose. (Spoilers follow.) If words like “immersive” and “participatory” give you performance anxiety, rest assured that your mask allows you a fly-on-the-wall vantage point. If you find the setup intriguing, be advised that the experience is more transporting if you know very little going in. Divided into even smaller groups, guests are given Venetian style masks and taken deeper into the hotel by an elevator operator who lays down the simple ground rules: keep your mask on (“to maintain your anonymity”), remain quiet, and follow whatever interests you. With its noirish early-1930s trappings, this hotel functions as a time warp as well.Īs “guests” of the McKittrick, audience members enter the Manderley Bar, complete with a sultry jazz band, in staggered shifts. Sleep No More’s primary setting is the McKittrick Hotel. They’ve replaced cheap scares with the genuine ghastliness of the source material, Shakespeare’s most macabre play. ![]() While “interactive” performances like Fuerza Bruta take their inspiration from the club scene, Punchdrunk has adopted the atmosphere of a haunted house-or in this case, a hotel. Punchdrunk’s loose adaptation ups the ante, making the audience uniquely complicit in this tale of madness, upheaval, and revenge. “The Scottish play” is certainly having a New York moment: two Off-Broadway productions, Throne of Blood at Film Forum this weekend. ![]() Filling up a six-floor Chelsea warehouse space with their heady concoction of scenic design and wordless performance, they’ve managed to turn Macbeth inside out. Sleep No More marks the New York City debut of Punchdrunk, a British company known for its immersive theater productions. One of the season’s biggest theatrical spectacles is not on Broadway. ![]()
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