The show allows guests to follow Macbeth by literally following the tragic hero, chasing after him around the McKittrick as he seeks out soothsaying witches, consults his wife and doles out murders. It’s an immersive theatrical performance in which the fourth wall conventionally dividing audiences and actors doesn’t exist. “Sleep No More” isn’t an ordinary play though. “Sleep No More” incorporates the three words encapsulating his guilt into its title and adapts his tragedy into its production. “Macbeth shall sleep no more,” he laments, tormented after slaying the slumbering King Duncan, the first of many casualties of his political agenda (2.2.701-703). Macbeth, a Scottish general, is consumed by his ambition to seize the throne, committing a string of murders to forestall a prophecy that he’ll be usurped. If the title stirs the back of your mind, you’re probably familiar with “Macbeth”, widely regarded as one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. Originally a warehouse space, it now contains the universe of the theatrical experience “Sleep No More”. Of course, the McKittrick Hotel isn’t a regular hotel. Instead of a hotel key card, I was issued a playing card and beaked half-mask that I had to don before I was allowed to explore the McKittrick’s extensive facilities: a ballroom, a dining hall, bedrooms, a hospital ward, a candy shop, a forest, a cemetery, an asylum, etc. I can’t comment on the quality of the cocktails as I’m under the legal American drinking age of 21, but I doubt any amount of liquid courage could have steeled me for my stay there. Drenched in red lights and smooth jazz, the Manderley Bar resembles a 1930’s speakeasy. The façade of the building is nondescript, there are no revolving doors or friendly porters, and I had to blindly stumble down a pitch-black corridor to reach the lobby-cum-bar. Upon arrival, the McKittrick Hotel seems like the least inviting accommodation that New York City has to offer. Sleep No More is still being performed today in New York. In this review-essay, Sim Wee Ong shares her experiences of the play, and comments on its relationship to the original text of Macbeth. Created by British company Punchdrunk, Sleep No More is site-specific to the fictional ‘McKittrick Hotel’, a block of warehouses transformed into a performance space. ![]() Termed by some critics as “the world’s most interactive play”, Sleep No More is an Off-Broadway immersive experience of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |