Sleep No More (2011 theatrical production)
Encyclopedia
Sleep No More is an immersive theatre installation created by British
theatre company Punchdrunk
based on Punchdrunk's original 2003 London
production and their 2009 collaboration
with Boston's
American Repertory Theatre
. The company reinvented Sleep No More in a co-production with EMURSIVE, which began performances at The McKittrick Hotel in Manhattan
on March 7, 2011. It won the 2011 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience
and won Punchdrunk special citations at the 2011 Obie Award
s for design and choreography.
. Sleep No More tells the story of Macbeth
through a film noir
lens. The production “leads its audience on a merry, macabre chase up and down stairs, and through minimally illuminated, furniture-cluttered rooms and corridors.” The masked audience moves freely at their own pace, choosing where to go and what to see, and everyone’s journey is unique.
Critics have 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.”
. According to the show's website, the hotel was completed in 1939 and “intended to be New York City's finest and most decadent luxury hotel.” The site goes on to explain that “six weeks before opening, and two days after the outbreak of World War II
, the legendary hotel was condemned and left locked, permanently sealed from the public” until it was restored and reinvented by Punchdrunk and EMURSIVE.
The McKittrick Hotel is actually three adjoining warehouses in Chelsea's
gallery district. The address is the former home of megaclubs Twilo
, Spirit, Bed and more. The 100000 square feet (9,290.3 m²) space has been transformed by Punchdrunk
into “some 100 rooms and environments, including a spooky hospital, mossy garden and bloody bedroom.”
, New York Magazine
, Vice
, The New York Post
and Time Out New York as well as a critical essay in The New Yorker
.
Recent press has focused on celebrity presence at Sleep No More, with articles in The New York Post and People
citing visits from Trey Parker
, Kim Cattrall
, Hugh Jackman
, Neil Patrick Harris
, Kevin Spacey
, James Franco
, Amy Adams
, Justin Timberlake
, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
, and an impromptu performance at the Manderley Bar by Florence Welch
. The cover article of the August, 2011 issue of Vanity Fair
follows actress Emma Stone through the winding halls of The McKittrick Hotel.
; Produced by EMURSIVE (Randy Weiner
, Arthur Karpati and Jonathan Hochwald) in association with Rebecca Gold Productions and Douglas G. Smith.
The Django Conwick Trio
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
theatre company Punchdrunk
Punchdrunk
Punchdrunk is a British theatre company, formed in 2000, the pioneer of a form of "immersive" presentation in which the audience is free to choose what to watch and where to go. This format is related to "promenade theatre"....
based on Punchdrunk's original 2003 London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
production and their 2009 collaboration
Sleep No More (2009 play)
Sleep No More is an immersive theatre production created by British theatre company Punchdrunk. Based on Punchdrunk's original 2003 London production, the company reinvented Sleep No More in a co-production with the American Repertory Theatre , which opened at the Old Lincoln School in Brookline,...
with Boston's
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
American Repertory Theatre
American Repertory Theatre
The American Repertory Theater is a professional not-for-profit theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1980 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to neglected works of the past; and to established classical texts...
. The company reinvented Sleep No More in a co-production with EMURSIVE, which began performances at The McKittrick Hotel in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
on March 7, 2011. It won the 2011 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience
Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience
The Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience was created to honor those Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and legitimate not-for-profit theater productions which, due to their unusual nature, cannot be categorized in the regular musical and play categories...
and won Punchdrunk special citations at the 2011 Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
s for design and choreography.
Overview
The production is an expansion upon both prior productions of Sleep No More, first at the Beaufoy Building in London in 2003 and in 2009 at the Old Lincoln School in Brookline, MassachusettsBrookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...
. Sleep No More tells the story of Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
through a film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
lens. The production “leads its audience on a merry, macabre chase up and down stairs, and through minimally illuminated, furniture-cluttered rooms and corridors.” The masked audience moves freely at their own pace, choosing where to go and what to see, and everyone’s journey is unique.
Critics have compared the production to other works from a wide range of media, with New York Magazine’s
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
Scott Brown referencing BioShock
Bioshock
BioShock is a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Boston and designed by Ken Levine. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on August 21, 2007 in North America, and three days later in Europe and Australia. It became available on Steam on August 21, 2007...
, Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, Inception
Inception
Inception: The Subconscious Jams 1994-1995 is a compilation of unreleased tracks by the band Download.-Track listing:# "Primitive Tekno Jam" – 3:23# "Bee Sting Sickness" – 8:04# "Weed Acid Techno" – 8:19...
, and M. C. Escher
M. C. Escher
Maurits Cornelis Escher , usually referred to as M. C. Escher , was a Dutch graphic artist. He is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints...
, and The New York Times’
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Ben Brantley
Ben Brantley
Benjamin D. "Ben" Brantley is an American journalist and the chief theater critic of The New York Times.-Life and career:...
referencing Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
, Joseph Cornell
Joseph Cornell
Joseph Cornell was an American artist and sculptor, one of the pioneers and most celebrated exponents of assemblage...
, David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
and Disney's
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park is one of four theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort located near Orlando, Florida. The first park built at the resort, Magic Kingdom opened Oct. 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises, the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California...
Haunted Mansion
Haunted Mansion
The Haunted Mansion is a dark ride located at Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. A significantly re-imagined incarnation of the ride, known as Phantom Manor, is located in Disneyland Paris...
. The production is mostly wordless, prompting The New Yorker’s
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
Hilton Als
Hilton Als
Hilton Als is an American writer and theater critic who writes for The New Yorker magazine.Als is a former staff writer for The Village Voice and former editor-at-large at Vibe magazine....
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.”
The McKittrick Hotel
Sleep No More takes place at the fictional McKittrick Hotel, a reference to the film VertigoVertigo (film)
Vertigo is a 1958 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A...
. According to the show's website, the hotel was completed in 1939 and “intended to be New York City's finest and most decadent luxury hotel.” The site goes on to explain that “six weeks before opening, and two days after the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the legendary hotel was condemned and left locked, permanently sealed from the public” until it was restored and reinvented by Punchdrunk and EMURSIVE.
The McKittrick Hotel is actually three adjoining warehouses in Chelsea's
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
gallery district. The address is the former home of megaclubs Twilo
Twilo
Twilo was an American nightclub in operation from 1995 to 2001 in New York City and from 2006 to 2007 in Miami. The New York location at 530 West 27th Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan regularly attracted a crowd of thousands to its warehouse-like dance floor...
, Spirit, Bed and more. The 100000 square feet (9,290.3 m²) space has been transformed by Punchdrunk
Punchdrunk
Punchdrunk is a British theatre company, formed in 2000, the pioneer of a form of "immersive" presentation in which the audience is free to choose what to watch and where to go. This format is related to "promenade theatre"....
into “some 100 rooms and environments, including a spooky hospital, mossy garden and bloody bedroom.”
Critical Response
Critical response was overwhelmingly positive with rave reviews in The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, New York Magazine
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
, Vice
Vice (magazine)
VICE is a free magazine and media conglomerate founded in Montreal, Quebec and currently based in New York City.Vice is available in 27 countries...
, The New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
and Time Out New York as well as a critical essay in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
.
Recent press has focused on celebrity presence at Sleep No More, with articles in The New York Post and People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
citing visits from Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
, Kim Cattrall
Kim Cattrall
Kim Victoria Cattrall is an English actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy/romance series Sex and the City, and for her leading roles in the 1980s films Police Academy, Big Trouble in Little China, Mannequin, and Porky's...
, Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters...
, Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
, Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
, James Franco
James Franco
James Edward Franco is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author, painter, performance artist and instructor at New York University. He left college in order to pursue acting and started off his career by making guest appearances on television series in the 1990s...
, Amy Adams
Amy Adams
Amy Lou Adams is an American actress and singer. Adams began her performing career on stage in dinner theaters before making her screen debut in the 1999 black comedy film Drop Dead Gorgeous...
, Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen are American actresses and entrepreneurs.Both have appeared in television and films since infancy. Since then, they have continued their celebrity through numerous television programs, films, interviews, as well as commercial endorsements...
, and an impromptu performance at the Manderley Bar by Florence Welch
Florence and the Machine
Florence and the Machine is the recording name of English musician Florence Welch and a collaboration of other artists who provide music for her voice. Florence and the Machine's sound has been described as a combination of various genres, including rock and soul...
. The cover article of the August, 2011 issue of Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
follows actress Emma Stone through the winding halls of The McKittrick Hotel.
Production Dates
Performances began March 7, 2011 with an official press opening on April 13. Though it was initially advertised as a six-week run, the production has been extended several times due to overwhelmingly positive critical and audience response. It is currently scheduled to close on January 21, 2012.Creative
Created by PunchdrunkPunchdrunk
Punchdrunk is a British theatre company, formed in 2000, the pioneer of a form of "immersive" presentation in which the audience is free to choose what to watch and where to go. This format is related to "promenade theatre"....
; Produced by EMURSIVE (Randy Weiner
Randy Weiner
Randy Weiner is an American playwright, producer and theater/nightclub owner. Weiner co-wrote the Off-Broadway musical The Donkey Show and, as one-third of EMURSIVE, produced the Drama Desk Award winning New York premiere of Punchdrunk's Sleep No More...
, Arthur Karpati and Jonathan Hochwald) in association with Rebecca Gold Productions and Douglas G. Smith.
- Directed by Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle.
- Designed by Felix Barrett, Livi Vaughan and Beatrice Minns.
- Choreography by Maxine Doyle
- Sound Design … Stephen Dobie
- Lighting Design … Felix Barrett and Euan Maybank
- Lighting Co-Design … Austin R. Smith
- Costume Design … David Israel Reynoso
- Associate Costume Designer … Becka Landau
- Assistant Designer … Zoe Franklin
- Assistant Designer … Lucia Rosenwald
- Associate Choreographer … Conor Doyle
- Senior Event Manager … Carolyn Rae Boyd
- Production Consultant … Colin Nightingale
- Supervising Producer ... Vance Garrett
Cast
Nearly the entire company performs in every performance, but actors alternate roles. Listed here are the roles played most frequently by each actor, though many have played other roles as well.- Phil Atkins as Duncan
- Nicholas Atkinson as Maximilian Martell
- Kelly Bartnik as Bald Witch / Catherine Campbell
- Sophie Bortolussi as Lady Macbeth / Agnes Naismith
- Eric Jackson Bradley as Mabeth / Porter
- Nicholas Bruder as Macbeth / Porter
- Ching-I Chang as Sexy Witch / Nurse Shaw
- Hope T. Davis as Bald Witch / Catherine Campbell
- Stephanie Eaton as Sexy Witch / Nurse Shaw / Lady Macbeth
- Gabriel Forestieri as Banquo / J. Fulton
- Ted Johnson - Swing- as J. Fulton / Speakeasy Barman / Bellhop / Mr. Bargarran / Orderly / Porter
- Maya Lubinsky as Constance DeWinter / Matron/ Swing-Hecate
- Jeffery Lyon as Banquo / J. Fulton
- Careena Melia as Hecate
- Jordan Morley as Boy Witch / Speakeasy Barman
- Luke Murphy as Macduff / Bellhop / Mr. Bargarran
- Rob Najarian as Malcolm (left show June, 2011)
- Matthew Oaks as Porter / Orderly / Malcolm / Macduff / Speakeasy Barman
- Marla Phelan as Swing- Sexy Witch/Matron/ Agnes Naismith/ Catherine Campbell
- Elizabeth Romanski as Violet
- Alli Ross as Lady Macduff / Matron (left show July, 2011)
- Adam Scher as Malcolm
- Alexander Silverman as Maximilian Martell (left show June, 2011)
- Paul Singh as Boy Witch / Speakeasy Barman
- John Sorensen-Jolink as Macduff / Bellhop / Mr. Bargarran
- Tori Sparks as Lady Macbeth / Agnes Naismith
- Natalie Thomas -Swing-Lady Macbeth, Bald Witch, Agnes Naismith
- Isadora Wolfe as Lady Macduff / Matron
- Lucy York as Lady Macduff / Matron
Band
The Manderley Band- Lola Baxter (Annie Goodchild) and Josephine Grant (Danielle Grabianowski)
The Django Conwick Trio
- Drums...Django Carranza
- Piano...David Bryant, Jonathan Davis, Daniel Fox, Benjamin Waltzer
- Bass...Travis Burniss, Christopher Higgins, Chris Van Voorst Van Beest