1/2/2024 0 Comments Sleep no more broadway![]() ![]() ![]() We don’t.Ī borough away, Then She Fell, produced by Third Rail, is another long-running immersive show that does not seem to have been plagued by similar problems. Wouldn’t it be great if we lived in a culture where this nannyish reminder was unnecessary? It would. Only recently has a line been added to the show asking audience members to “keep a respectful distance” from the performers. The Sleep No More producers claim that there is plenty of security, but performers dispute this. In an environment where misconduct is possible and audience members can’t all be trusted to behave themselves appropriately, it is incumbent on the show’s producers to set clear guidelines and to have enough security present to enforce them. Because I’m a woman and a critic and the house lights were half up and I have some sense of boundaries.)Ġ2:26 The problem with immersive theatre: why actors need extra protection from sexual assault - video (By the way, as an audience member, I was once cheerfully snogged by an actor who leapt into the aisles in the Broadway production of Hair. But hey, those are the rules in strip clubs, too, and people mostly follow them. Sleep No More performers can grab patrons, pulling them aside for intimate one-on-one scenes, maybe it seems unfair that patrons can’t do the same. ![]() And Sleep No More is a provocative show, with ample nudity ( Gawker once published an article detailing where to stand to make the most of it) and erotic dance. The New York Sleep No More is easily the most congested Punchdrunk production I’ve ever attended, making it easy enough to disappear into a throng. The nightclub feel, from the bouncers and ropes outside to the bar inside, with strong cocktails available throughout the show, probably doesn’t help – it’s the unusual avant-garde show that could double as a bachelor party destination. Audiences are masked and allowed to go and do more or less wherever and whatever they want, contributing to a sense of anonymity and permissiveness. Because it’s an immersive production, there is no proscenium dividing actor and spectator, no seats to stay in. The actors dance more than dialogue, making a welcoming space as long as you’re cool with dim lighting and sexy movement.That Sleep No More, a Punchdrunk show imported by a trio of US producers, has apparently become a flashpoint for assaults against actors isn’t a huge surprise. Wisely more physical than verbal, the show, created by the British theatre company Punchdrunk, welcomes a more diverse range of audiences if Shakespearean verse deters you, fret not here. So what happens at Sleep No More ? It depends on the journey you take and the characters you follow. It’s a theatrical playground whose throughline loosely (very loosely) mimics that of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a quote from which inspires the title of this New York mainstay’s work. In fact, the dutiful staff ensures your phone is kept under lock and key before you enter the performance space, an attention to detail I wish was similarly enforced at most Broadway shows.Īnd speaking of performance space: after being holed up at home for the past two years, the sprawling, multi-floor setting of the McKittrick Hotel, the 27th Street setting of Sleep No More, feels like an airy adult jungle gym. Leave your iPhone and Waze app at home: Sleep No More has no guide or roadmap, which is a major part of its appeal.
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