Sleep No More (2011 play)

Sleep No More
One of the audience masks used in the production.
Written by	Punchdrunk
Directed by	Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle
Date premiered	March 7, 2011 (2011-03-07)
Place premiered	McKittrick Hotel, 530 West 27th Street, New York City
Original language	English (mostly mute)
Setting	McKittrick Hotel and environs, Gallow Green, Glamis, Forfar, Scotland
Official site

Sleep No More is the New York City production of an immersive theatre work created by the British theatre company Punchdrunk. It is based primarily on William Shakespeare's Macbeth, with additional inspiration taken from noir films (especially those of Alfred Hitchcock) and the 1697 Paisley witch trials. Its title comes from Macbeth:

Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more.
Macbeth does murder sleep'

— Act II, Scene II, Lines 36–7

After incarnations in London in 2003 and Brookline, Massachusetts in 2009, Sleep No More was launched in New York City in collaboration with Emursive and began performances on March 7, 2011. The production won the 2011 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience and won Punchdrunk special citations at the 2011 Obie Awards for design and choreography.

Sleep No More adapts the story of Macbeth, deprived of nearly all spoken dialogue and set primarily in a dimly-lit, 1930s-era establishment called the McKittrick Hotel. Audience members move throughout the performance space and interact with props at their own pace; however, the actions of audience members are generally ignored by the performers and do not impact the story.

In November 2023, Emursive announced a final performance date of January 28, 2024, but the production was subsequently extended throughout 2024. In October 2024, a final performance date of January 5, 2025 was announced along with a trio of farewell parties entitled APPARITIONS scheduled for January 2025.

Format

Sleep No More is unlike most theatrical productions, in that the audience wanders at their own pace throughout a set populated by actors. As such, it can be categorized as immersive theatre, promenade theatre, and environmental theatre. It is not, strictly speaking, interactive theatre, because although the audience may move through the settings, interact with the props, or observe the actors at their own pace, their presence has no bearing on the story or the performers except in rare instances. Despite its aesthetics and theming, Sleep No More is not a haunted attraction, although it does feature dark and supernatural elements and audience members are warned that they might experience "intense psychological situations."

Pre-show

Guests enter the performance space through large double-doors, unmarked except for a small plaque. After a coat check, they "check-in" to the hotel at a themed reception desk and are given a playing card, which is used to determine when they will enter the show. Cell phones are locked in bags that block their service for the duration of the show. Guests then proceed upstairs through a small, dimly-lit maze, symbolizing their journey back in time. At the other end is the Manderley, a themed hotel jazz bar, where they will wait until called to enter the show. Once guests are called, they are told a few rules, handed a mask, and escorted either onto an elevator or to a stairwell to begin their show experience.

Audience members are expected to wear the mask at all times during the performance. They are also forbidden to talk outside of the entry and exit point of the show, the Manderley bar. Otherwise very little direction is given to audience members about what to expect or how they should interact with the show.

Show format

The play consists of roughly three "loops" of story. Each loop lasts an hour and tells the story of Macbeth from Act I, Scene I to the ghost of Banquo's appearance at the feast in Act III, Scene IV. At the end of a loop, the characters "reset" and start the story over, performing the same actions they did in the previous loop. This structure allows audience members to view the story from multiple perspectives by choosing different characters to follow or rooms to explore in each loop.

Upon entering the show, audience members may wander through any of the five visitable floors, each of which are populated by actors (referred to in the pre-show as "residents"). Actors are typically dressed in 1930s period clothing and are distinguishable from audience members by their lack of mask. They rarely speak, even when interacting with other actors, and communicate primarily through their acting, choreographed dances, and written notes.

Actors generally pretend that they can't see audience members and rarely acknowledge them. However, there are a few scripted moments where, upon making eye contact with a specific audience member of their choosing, an actor might give them a task, whisper in their ear, or lead them into a small, private encounter. These are specific to each character, but usually consist of the actor reciting dialogue from Macbeth or Rebecca. These interactions have been dubbed "one-on-ones" or "1:1s" by frequent visitors.

Recorded music, either period (such as tunes by the Ink Spots or Glenn Miller), ambient (composed by Punchdrunk sound designer Stephen Dobbie), or orchestral (mostly consisting of Bernard Herrmann's scores to Alfred Hitchcock films) plays steadily throughout the entire building at all times. Other sound effects, such as thunderclaps or bells, happen simultaneously on most floors as well, though with different volumes relative to the area of the performance where the sounds originate.

Staff members wearing black surgical masks are stationed at certain points throughout the set to assist audience members and actors if issues arise. They also prevent audience members from going to restricted locations and shepherd them out as the show ends.

Finale

At the end of the third loop, all of the actors converge on the ballroom. The feast is laid out as in the previous two loops, but in this one Malcom and Macduff kill Macbeth, symbolically breaking the loops and ending the performance. Audience members are guided into the Manderley bar, where they are able to stay for a drink or depart past the gift shop and coat check.

As they are leaving, many actors grab the hand of an audience member and pull them to the Manderley, where they whisper a few words before departing. These are known among fans as "walk outs".

Characters

While many characters are adapted more or less directly from Macbeth, others have been omitted, significantly altered, or invented for Sleep No More. Many character names are borrowed from the Paisley witch trials, including Agnes Naismith, Katherine Campbell, Shaw, Lang, Fulton, and Barrigan. Other character influences come from Psycho (Agnes Naismith, Taxidermist) and Rebecca (Katherine Campbell, Agnes Naismith).

Principal characters

• Duncan – King of Scotland and father of Malcolm. After attending the ball in his honor, he is murdered by Macbeth. Ms. Campbell reanimates him for a brief dance and he contemplates his death.
• Malcolm – Duncan's son and detective at the Mac Crinain & Reid Agency. He is obsessed with birds and is investigating the disappearance of Grace Naismith. After the murder of his father, he checks Macduff for a witch's mark and helps him kill Macbeth in the final loop.
• Lord Macbeth – Scottish nobleman and husband of Lady Macbeth. After receiving a prophecy from the three witches, he is persuaded by Lady Macbeth into murdering Duncan. Upon receiving another prophecy from the witches and Hecate, he murders Banquo. In the first two loops, he murders Lady Macduff after the feast; in the final loop he is killed by Malcom and Macduff before he can do so.
• Lady Macbeth – Scottish noblewoman and wife of Lord Macbeth. After she hears of the first prophecy, she persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan. To facilitate this, she throws a ball and, at it, drugs Duncan's drink. She bathes Macbeth when he returns from murdering Duncan, at which point she begins a descent into madness. Following her appearance at the feast, she goes to the sanitarium, where Nurse Shaw helps bathe her.
• Banquo – Scottish nobleman and friend of Macbeth. After being enchanted by the two female witches and receiving a letter from the Porter, he discovers the body of Duncan and raises the alarm by ringing a bell. This summons Malcolm and Macduff, who help him bring the body to the crypt. The trio head to a speakeasy to play a tense card game until it is interrupted by a bloody and furious Macbeth. Macbeth murders Banquo with a brick. Moments later, face covered in blood, Banquo stands and wanders around in shock before proceeding to the feast.
• Lord Macduff – Scottish nobleman and husband of Lady Macduff.
• Lady Macduff – Scottish noblewoman and wife of Lord Macduff.
• Hecate – leader of the witches.
• Sexy Witch (also known as Fate) – one of Hecate's followers.
• Bald Witch – one of Hecate's followers.
• Boy Witch – one of Hecate's followers.
• The Porter – manager of the hotel lobby. His name is a reference to the porter who has a brief comedic scene in Act II of Macbeth.
• Catherine Campbell (also known as the Maid or Mrs. Danvers) – maid at the McKittrick.
• Speakeasy (also known as Speaks) – bartender at a speakeasy and servant of Hecate.
• Agnes Naismith – a young woman who arrives at the McKittrick Hotel looking for her missing sister, Grace.
• Mr. Fulton (also known as the Tailor) – tailor and cunning person working against the forces of evil.
• Mr. Barragan (also known as the Taxidermist or Taxi) – a malevolent taxidermist who struggles with Fulton.
• Nurse Shaw – nurse at King James Sanitarium.
• Matron Lang – head nurse at King James Sanitarium.

Secondary characters

• Sixth Floor Nurse – a mysterious nurse who appears periodically on the fifth floor. After a few moments of sitting in a corner, they pull an audience member to the sixth floor for a special one-on-one related to the Manderley estate in Rebecca.
• Person in Bar – two actors who remain in the Manderley bar for the duration of the show. These characters greet audience members upon entering the Manderley, give them their masks in the pre-show, and welcome them back upon exiting. They also sometimes interact with audience members who return to the bar mid-show.
• James the Elevator Operator – a bellhop who controls the elevator taking audience members from the Manderley to the show area. James is usually played by the same actor as the Taxidermist, meaning that the Taxidermist does not appear in the show until all of the guests had entered and the elevator operator is no longer needed (generally in the second loop).
• Singer – a singer helps direct guests when they enter the Manderley bar and performs live music upon their exit from the show.

Temporary characters

Some characters appeared for only a limited time and were later retired.

• George Islay – Grace Naismith's love interest, who was only seen during a brief partnership between Punchdrunk and MIT Media Lab.
• The Reverend – a pious hermit found in an igloo-like structure off one of the asylum wings

• Caroline Reville – the secretary of Malcolm's detective agency with her own ties to the supernatural. After her departure from the show, her resignation letter could be found in the agency.
• Maximilian and Oz – two characters related to the Manderley. Even after the charters departed from the show, guests who purchased a premium entry were known as "Maximilian's Guest" or "Oz's Guest".

Set and theming

A prop letter from Macbeth to Lady Macbeth

See also: McKittrick Hotel

In its New York City production, Sleep No More is set in the fictitious McKittrick Hotel, whose website claims that it has been recently "restored" but which is actually a block of warehouses. The McKittrick Hotel consists of five floors, throughout which the action of Sleep No More takes place simultaneously. Not all rooms or floors are related to the hotel theming – spaces in the McKittrick include a graveyard, a hospital/asylum, and the mainstreet of a small town. Various papers, pamphlets and menus inside the performance space and at the building's dining establishments identify the show's setting (indoors and "outdoors") as the fictitious town of Gallow Green, Glamis, Forfar, Scotland. The name of the town and some of the characters (as seen in prop letters found in the performance space, and the show's souvenir program) are references to the Paisley witch trials.

Set description

• Floor 5 – The King James Sanitarium: an antiquated asylum with an adjoining gated forest. Frequented by Nurse Shaw and Matron Lang.
• Floor 4 – The High Street of Gallow Green: the main street of a small town, featuring several businesses including a tailor, a taxidermist, Malcom's detective agency, and two bars. Frequent characters include Mr. Bargarran (a taxidermist), Mr. Fulton (a tailor), Malcolm, Hecate, Agnes Naismith, and the unnamed bartender of the speakeasy.
• Floor 3 – The McKittrick Hotel Residences: mainly the living quarters of Lord and Lady Macduff, and Lord and Lady Macbeth; also includes a cemetery.
• Floor 2 – The McKittrick Hotel Lobby: a hotel lobby, including a dining area, check-in desk, and phone boths. Frequent characters include the lobby's porter, and occasionally the three witches.
• Floor 1 – The McKittrick Hotel Ballroom: a large ballroom/auditorium and its mezzanine level, with smaller surrounding rooms. Frequent characters include Duncan, Banquo, Catherine Campbell, and multiple characters from the other floors.

There is a small performance space on the sixth floor as well, but it is not open to guests unless they are selected by a performer for a special one-on-one interaction.

Reception

Critical response

Critics have favorably compared the production to other works from a wide range of media, with New York Magazine's Scott Brown referencing BioShock, Lost, Inception, and M. C. Escher, and The New York Times’ Ben Brantley referencing Stanley Kubrick, Joseph Cornell, David Lynch and Disney's Haunted Mansion. The production is mostly wordless, prompting The New Yorker's Hilton Als to write: "Because language is abandoned outside the lounge, we’re forced to imagine it, or to make narrative cohesion of events that are unfolding right before our eyes. We can only watch as the performers reduce theatre to its rudiments: bodies moving in space. Stripped of what we usually expect of a theatrical performance, we’re drawn more and more to the panic the piece incites, and the anxiety that keeps us moving from floor to floor." Testimonials for Sleep No More have also been given by such celebrities as Neil Patrick Harris, Emma Stone, Leslie Odom, Jr., Evan Rachel Wood, and Aaron Paul, all of whom have also appeared as guest characters in the production.

The show has received positive reviews in several publications including, The New York Times, New York Magazine, The New York Post, and Time Out New York, as well as a critical essay in The New Yorker and the cover article of the August 2011 Vanity Fair.

Audience response

As of March 2021, Sleep No More currently has an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars on Yelp, based on 1,284 reviews, with 70% of all reviews being 4 stars or above. Similarly, on TripAdvisor, Sleep No More has garnered 1,625 customer reviews, with 77% being either 4 or 5 stars. Many longtime fans of the show (some of whom have visited the McKittrick over 100 times) have also created dedicated blogs on sites such as Tumblr, where they share their experiences, reviews, and derivative fan works based on the show, story, characters, and cast.

Controversy

Actors have alleged sexual misconduct by audience members.

Related productions

Sleep No More was first produced at the Beaufoy Building in London in 2003 and was later renewed in a 2009 collaboration with Boston's American Repertory Theatre at the Old Lincoln School in Brookline, Massachusetts.

On July 13, 2016, Punchdrunk announced that Sleep No More would make its Asian premiere in Shanghai in December of the same year. This would be the first co-production between Punchdrunk International and Chinese company SMG Live. The original creative team behind Punchdrunk's Sleep No More all worked on the Shanghai production, but the company is made up of long-term Punchdrunk collaborators as well as Chinese performers working with Punchdrunk for the first time.

The Shanghai production of Sleep No More is housed in a disused building five stories high, renamed the "McKinnon Hotel", in the Jing'an District of the city. It combines the original story from Macbeth with Chinese folk myths.