REVIEW: For ‘Sleep No More,’ spontaneity and uncertainty are key
Photo: Nicholas Bruder stars as Macbeth and Sophie Bortolussi as Lady Macbeth in Sleep No More. Photo courtesy of © Yaniv Schulman / Provided by DKC O&M with permission.
The immersive theatrical experience known as Sleep No More has called the McKittrick Hotel in New York City home for several years now. This wondrous world of Hitchcockian mystery retells the story of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth in the most unique of ways, and this many years after its initial premiere, the Punchdrunk production, presented by the company Emursive, has lost none of its impact and beauty.
For the unbeknownst, Sleep No More is experiential theater at its finest. Patrons line up outside the “hotel” building in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood and leave behind the world of 2023 for the world of … well, that’s never exactly answered. Some may think this production is firmly set in a noir movie, circa 1940s or 1950s. Others may feel they have entered a speakeasy during the height of Prohibition. Still others, may categorize their adventuring as pure Hitchcockian. This range of interpretation is one of the most welcome aspects of the production.
After walking through a disorienting and barely lit maze, audience members find themselves at the Manderley Bar, a riotous nightclub with little tables, specialty drinks and jazzy tunes. One can sit and imbibe before the real mystery begins, or, if one demands action right away, the play can begin almost immediately upon entering the bar. This is the first of Sleep No More’s choose-one’s-adventure decisions.
It’s best to keep the intricate details of Sleep No More a secret, but, to be honest, the cat is out of the bag on the internet. The immersive production has become so popular that there are numerous websites devoted to every nook and cranny of the McKittrick Hotel, and sure, some people will follow a path first forged by some previous blogger. But it’s better to experience Sleep No More with an open mind for adventure and no set plan.
Audience members wear characteristic masks with protruding beaks that seem like they’ve been pulled from Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. At this time, patrons are also asked to wear a mask under this outer mask for COVID-19 purposes. Entrance into the “hotel” is achieved via a large elevator that stops at different floors of the multi-floor building. It’s reiterated again and again by the staff members who herd the guests into this transportive elevator that Sleep No More is best experienced as a solo enterprise. Families and friend groups will (and should) likely split up, and that’s a good thing. Exploration should be a personal endeavor at the McKittrick.
Once patrons leave the elevator, there is no more dialogue from the performers who populate the hotel. Even though they act out scenes from Macbeth and bring audiences through a story, everything from here on out is wordless, though there is a majestic and attention-getting soundtrack that weaves through the narrative. The formal action begins at a large banquet hall, which should be no surprise to those familiar with Macbeth, and this scene serves as an establishing sequence for the entire evening. Most of the cast joins together around the long table, while audience members, brand new to the experience, try to piece together the clues they are seeing unfold before their eyes. When the scene ends, the characters head throughout the hotel in different directions, and this is when the real fun begins. Patrons can choose a character (or “track”) and follow them into another room, onto another floor, down a dark passage, and see what happens.
For the next three hours, one continues choosing these adventures, heading into beautifully and eerily designed rooms that almost defy expectation. At one turn, there’s a hotel lobby with a bank of telephones; at another turn there’s a hospital ward with a line of patient beds. One never exits the McKittrick Hotel, yet there are outdoor scenes in foggy cemeteries. There’s a cobblestone road with various stores and establishments lining its perimeter. Apartments can be walked into, and the intimacy of a bedroom can be experienced. Sometimes audience members can inspect the furniture, décor and many written passages that populate these rooms (don’t take or move anything, of course), and for one’s enjoyment, there doesn’t need to be a cast member playing out a scene. These quieter moments are some of the best experiences of Sleep No More, when there’s no one else around and calmness sets in (followed by an unsettled feeling of being watched).
The actors, known as “Residents,” are exquisite and fully dedicated to the theatrical experience. They act out the scenes, sometimes utilizing an interpretive dance style to display love, hurt or melancholy. Other times, the scenes become more dreadful and murderous. Not a word is spoken (with only a few exceptions), and yet the storytelling is unmistakable. Often, one scene ends with a character walking off to a new room or another floor in the hotel, and throngs of audience members follow, hoping to continue the story with this particular resident. Other times, when a scene is complete, audience members have received their narrative fill and seek out a different resident to check in on. After spending a few hours with this motley variety of characters, it does become obvious that the scenes play out more than once (sort of on loops), so although everything cannot be experienced in one evening, there is the chance over the three-hour performance to seek out a sequence one may have missed at the start of the night.
Because the word is out on Sleep No More, many patrons congregate in certain spots of the McKittrick, awaiting for the next scene or loop to transpire before their eyes. They seemingly know every step of the theatrical experience and seek out the best locations in the hotel, hoping for a “one on one,” which is when a character intimately pulls a patron aside, sometimes into a secret room or even a secret floor. Yes, these coveted experiences are cherished and fairly awesome, but trying to position oneself so that they automatically “earn” the one-on-one misses the point of Sleep No More. It’s akin to buying a front-row concert ticket and being worried the entire time about catching a guitar pick. If one tries to catch that pick, it almost never happens. Instead, one should enjoy the concert, and who knows, maybe a pick will be thrown in that direction. This reviewer has seen Sleep No More three times, and an unforgettable one-on-one experience was achieved — mostly because this reviewer had no idea such an experience was possible.
Sleep No More is now a vital part of the New York theatrical scene. The McKittrick Hotel, which hosts other restaurants and theatrical shows (including the equally exquisite Speakeasy Magick), is a welcome world found on a nondescript street on the westside of Manhattan. One can research the ins and outs of the experience before stepping into this hotel, or they can go in without too much knowledge, giving themselves over to the atmosphere, the mystery, the noir and the uncertainty.
Sleep No More is wondrous theater on a large scale that works best when experiencing the show one small scene after another. The entire experience can be overwhelming, but that can be counteracted if audience members move slowly, with only the intention of getting lost and embraced within its shadowy environs. Let the transportive experience actually transport, and then, there’s nothing like Sleep No More.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Sleep No More is currently playing at the McKittrick Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The Punchdrunk production is presented by Emursive. Click here for more information and tickets.
