"Sleep No More" Haunts New York Theatregoers' Dreams

Company member Sophie Bortolussi (Photo Courtesy SleepNoMoreNYC.com)

Earlier this week we attended a performance of Sleep No More here in New York. It’s not easy to describe the site-specific event, which UK performance troupe Punchdrunk has painstakingly installed in three adjoining buildings (formerly nightclubs and warehouses) on West 27th Street in Chelsea.

Upon arrival, Visitors to the “abandoned” McKittrick Hotel are instructed to don Venetian carnival masks to create a sense of anonymity and freedom. Over twenty actor/dancers—sans masks—then enact a “choose your own adventure” style performance that’s a bit of a mash-up of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and 1930’s film noire, with audience members enouraged to follow whichever actors they choose through 100 rooms. Every visitor is thus given an entirely unique experience that rewards curiosity and encourages repeat visits.

The show has grown enormously popular, extending multiple times since opening last Spring, aided in part by its vocal celebrity attendees—from Olivia Wilde [see quote above] to Neil Patrick Harris—who enthusiastically tweet its praises (and surely enjoy the anonymity it provides).

If you’re in New York and can snag a ticket, do it. And then plan to be dying to go back again for a completely different show.

Visit sleepnomorenyc.com