chuckro | Sleep No More

Sleep No More was freaky and out of my comfort zone and I think I loved it.

It was likened to a Choose Your Own Adventure book when it was first described to me, and I think the comparison was apt. That is, if CYOA books were deeply creepy and involved a lot of gore and nudity. It’s the first time I’ve ever thought a play could use a FAQ/Walkthrough, though the experience is less about trying to find a “correct path” or see a whole plotline (which is basically the “good parts version” of MacBeth with some other references thrown in) so much as finding interesting individual scenes.

The entire show loops at least twice, possibly three times, which gives you the chance to see the sequences of several characters, but I don’t think it’s possible to see everything. If you go with a group of people, DON’T STAY TOGETHER. Collectively, you can probably catch most of the vignettes.

The set is a set designer’s dream, especially if said set designer had long, involved, plot-heavy dreams like Jethrien does. Five floors of incredibly complex, detailed rooms, and you know the audience will pore over every detail and carefully examine every object. (Which you can—you’re expected to open drawers, fiddle with objects and read letters. You can even eat the candy in the candy shop, though you might not necessarily want to.)

I was actually very lucky in that the first character I found was Lady MacBeth. By the end of the show, crowds were mobbing around the MacBeths and MacDuffs, mostly to the exclusion of other characters. Early on, no one knew who was who or what to look for.

Most of the characters I saw after that were the core cast—the MacBeths, the MacDuffs, the three witches (in my head as “bald witch”, “Asian witch” and “Klarion bum bum bum the Witch Boy”), Banquo, and Duncan. There were also several side characters, including a bartender, a nurse, a mysteriously-cruel woman in a fantastic red dress, and girl with a locket who Jethrien followed for a while.

The audience is instructed to stay silent at all times and never remove their masks, and for the most part appear as ghosts and passive observers (which really works with the atmosphere, especially if you’re exploring a sparsely-populated area without a scene going on). In practice, only the “mad” characters seem to acknowledge the audience, and react to them as if there were spirits around. That is, unless they’re outside of scripted scenes and moving from place to place, in which case they might pull aside an individual audience member for a private scene, usually by pulling them into a room and locking the door behind them. (I called these Private Actions, after the similarly hard-to-find individual scenes in the Star Ocean games.)

I pretty much accidentally discovered the secret to the Private Actions—pick a specific character and follow them closely (this often involves carefully dodging through a crowd and chasing them up stairs or through a series of rooms). This is how I ended up getting pulled into a small, closed-off room by Duncan, who addressed me as his son, anointed me with oil, handed me a sword and named me the king. This was simultaneously deeply freaky and incredibly cool, because I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing (besides not speaking) and the actor was deeply in character.

(Protip: If you like boobies, follow Lady MacBeth and the witches. If you want to see really impressive modern dance/fight scenes, follow Duncan, Banquo or MacDuff. If you’re very good at dodging and running through crowds, follow MacBeth.)

(There is the problem that it was cheaper to go on a weeknight, so we did, but that meant we were out until late on a Tuesday. And my throat is scratchy from the smoke machines. And my legs and feet are a bit cranky. But it was worth it.)

We spent the entire walk and ride home (the theater is at 27th Street and 11th Avenue) discussing and deconstructing what we’d seen. I suspect we could have talked for another couple of hours had it not been very late already.

FYI to

lindensphinx: If you can, see this. I suspect you’d love it. Also, consider killing the hostess and stealing her role. She reminded me so much of you it was scary.

For everyone else: This was really amazing, and unique in my theater-going experience, but I’ll readily admit it’s not for everyone. Don’t let a dislike of horror or a squeamishness about sexuality stop you (after all, Jethrien and Ivy03 both loved it), but it’s very immersive and out of a lot of people’s comfort zones. There’s also a lot of walking. Oh, and it’s expensive (we paid $80/person) and selling out fast.

See also: Jethrien’s review.