I had the opportunity of attending the play “Sleep No More”, a recent addition to works of theater in New York City. In the neighborhood of Chelsea, in what seems to be an abandoned warehouse space, lays the site-specific stage for this play that takes you traveling back to the early 20th century. The space is a 5-story warehouse that has been designed to represent a hotel of the early 20th century, the McKittrick Hotel, as it is called in the play. However, this is not your regular hotel, there are cemeteries, insane asylums, orphanages, doctor and chemical offices, in addition to, what seems to be the only typical part of a hotel, the lobby and hotel bar and café. As an attendee, you are usually separated from your group in order for you to experience the play on your own. All floors are open for one to explore, search through, read and look for things, which makes the experience super interactive and inclusive. Through every floor you will also encounter the actors, doing a scene in random spaces and you are just a couple of feet away, can follow them through their scene, and sometimes can even interact with them.
The play is intended to recreate Macbeth, by Shakespeare, but definitely draws influence from so many contemporary and 20th century artists and filmmakers. The scenery is spooky, creepy, dark, oaky, grimy. So many different feelings by the scent, sounds or lack thereof, and objects present in each room that you can feel anything from happiness and comfort to scare and depression. The scenes are for you to encounter on your own, and depends on where you are at a specific time. This is really fascinating because it creates an experience that wont be repeated twice, one can go back on another time and be sure to see different scenes and different momentum.
Another part about this play that makes it so entertaining to see is how interactive it is. As explained above the actors may reach for you to touch them, talk to you, grab you, and in one scene even dress them. This level of intimacy with the actors improves the experience as a whole since it really creates an organic connection between spectator and performer. The entire play becomes part of your own sensorial experience and you are an actor in it, it changes the typical theater experience completely. Sleep No More is definitely one play not to miss.
For Tickets head to http://sleepnomorenyc.com/
