SLEEP NO MORE: NYC

I just got back from a quick visit to NYC to see SLEEP NO MORE, a theatrical experience that I will never forget! I heard about the show from my professor, Cathy Hurst, a year or so ago when she saw it, and haven't stopped wanting to see it since then. An old hotel building in New York was transformed over the course of 4 months into an interactive, garbled version of Macbeth, one in which the viewers roam all 6 floors of the building to see various scenes and follow characters or explore the settings.

I flew into the city on Monday night and had some fun navigating the subways with the help of my friend Krista, a SMC alum who lives in the city and kindly showed me around and let me stay with her. Tuesday was a day of walking around the city and doing a little shopping...I would have, however, done less walking had I known what a night I was in for!

My friend and I entered the McKittrick Hotel for the 7pm entrance time. We checked all bags and coats--definitely the best decision of the day-- and checked in with our previously purchased tickets. We were each given a playing card and told to enjoy our stay at the hotel. From that point on, everyone who spoke to us was a professional actor/dancer. We were guided up dark passageways to a 30's style bar, complete with drinks and smoke and jazz. Having heard about the experience before, we skipped the drinks because when the number on your card is called, you have to chug the drink and leave. In this way most guests are separated from their friends to enter in small groups. It's absolutely, above all, an individual experience: if you go, don't try to hang on to your friends. You'll see them in 3 short hours to compare what you saw!

When my number was called, I went up and was given a mask. All non-performers wear big white masks that cover your face to the chin, which sounds creepy but was actually very beneficial throughout. We were herded into an elevator, told not to talk for the next 3 hours, and slowly ascended. I exited on the 3rd floor and entered into what appeared to be an old house in the 30's, complete with glamorous old furniture, extremely detailed props and dressings-- which we were encouraged to touch and explore-- and actors. After a quick interaction with one actress, I went through one of the zillion doorways and hallways and found myself in a hazy, smoking ruin, with broken bricks underfoot and eerie statues all around. Then I found myself outside of the bedroom, looking in through big glass windows. After finding the door to get in and watch the scene unfolding, I can't re-trace my steps. There was a two-story ballroom that transformed into a forest, a village of shops and servants' homes, a lounge with a piano, one whole level of hospital beds and tubs and laundry rooms, chapels and a graveyard...almost all of which were dimly lit and full of fog.

The experience of the individual in this setting is incredible. You choose where to go, who to follow, and if you're lucky you'll see a lot of scenes, but it's easy to lose yourself in the rooms and examine the details of the whole building. I remember it as a huge maze, and I suspected for a while that the crew members (all around, with black masks) were changing the names of the stairways on me. The sheer amount of staircases was staggering. I remember following an actor down 5 flights of stairs...and winding up at the top of the ballroom, somehow, when I could have sworn it was far above us. I came to recognize some stairs and passages, but it was easy to get turned around, and I visited some places (like the hospital floor) only once and never found them again. I know I missed 3 scenes, but I couldn't find the places again in time. It was a little frustrating, but you will never see anything in one viewing. I did see several scenes over and over again, but they changed sometimes, so it was never not worth it.

Come 10pm and our exit, I was exhausted. I didn't want it to end, but my body was refusing to move anymore. I can't imagine how the actors do the show every day (lucky for them, it's usually double-cast so they don't have to do it twice a day) with those kind of physical requirements: running through hallways, up and down hundreds of stairs, acting, dancing, moving-- and always with a dozen people in masks following, running behind you, standing a foot away watching. I wonder how they changed costumes or cleaned blood off themselves to reset for the beginning of a scene, when scenes were repeated. We met people before going in who had been before, and each time were determined to follow a different actor to see a different aspect of the story. I learned quickly that when the herd of people is on the move, if you're not in the front and moving quickly you'll lose the actor or fall behind. However, you don't always want to follow actors-- often I felt the need to explore the settings or try a different area, or see what was up this flight of stairs, and that is good to pursue as well.

The masks were a good thing, if creepy. I still have mine (the amount I was sweating after all that walking and running and stairs, I don't imagine anyone would want to reuse it!). They marked the spectators from the actors, and while the lines were sometimes blurred there, it made it a little easier for everyone. The masks also were fascinating to watch in themselves. At one point, near the end, I went to the ballroom and a lot of people were sitting to rest for a few minutes, and it was so interesting to see the masks waiting and watching. The juxtaposition in the scenes was fascinating as well-- sometimes the actors could "see" us, and other times they couldn't, but when a character was going crazy or acting a very emotional scene, and all these people are around them in masks, it's an unexplainable, phenomenal illustration of real, unreal, insanity, and consciousness.

All in all...I'd go again in a heartbeat. If you get a chance, check it out! Here is the New York Times Review, which goes into greater detail about the show. There are also a lot of websites and blogs currently looking at interpreting what you see and understanding how all the characters relate and fit into the story.