In a year full of standout theatrical tributes to the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, few are as highly anticipated as Punchdrunk Theater’s take on Macbeth. Already reservations to Sleep No More have been filled until the Spring holiday despite its December 14 opening date.
Ironically if the Bard represents the pinnacle of traditional theater, Sleep No More has won wide acclaim for its experiments with the form. Critics have dubbed it as a pioneer of immersive theater, and past productions of Sleep No More have enjoyed sold-out years-long runs in New York, London and Brookline, Massachusetts.
“We’re making a non-traditional form of theater – taking the audience away from this passive interaction where they basically sit and have something presented to them,” explains the show’s producer Colin Nightingale.
“Audiences are free to explore the space and the whole story is spread across six floors of the building. Within that, they’re actually being presented a fragmented narrative that they piece together by exploring. This means that every audience member ends up with a very unique experience that’s personal to them.”
An abandoned building in Jing’an has been transformed into the show’s setting, the McKinnon Hotel, and the story was adapted to take place in 1930s Shanghai.
“A lot of the storytelling is done within the design and details of the space. The audience can look through desks and read diaries or letters,” Nightingale explains.
“We’ve created a total multisensory world. There’s a sound design running throughout the whole building and we’re playing with smells. The majority of the performers are dancers, so it’s a lot of physical storytelling as opposed to verbalized text.”
Flexibility is a key element to Sleep No More’s world. There are four arrival times per show, and attendees are free to roam for three hours as there is no set interval for communal breaks.
The functioning Mandalay Bar serves as an open space for audience members to take a break and discuss the show. A jazz band will perform, and Nightingale notes, “If we’re doing our job right, there should be something for everyone.”
“Some people might want to spend two hours meticulously exploring the world or engaging with the performances, but others might rather sit within this rich environment that we’ve created, which is a totally acceptable way of experiencing the work as well.”
Part of Sleep No More’s enduring appeal is that no two individuals experience the show exactly the same.
“There’s about 18 hours of content scattered within this space, so it’s impossible for anyone to experience everything within one visit to this world,” Nightingale explains. “A lot of the storytelling then comes out of conversations between audience members after the show.”
While its Shanghai run is currently scheduled until March 26, Nightingale is optimistic the show will be a staple of Shanghai as it is in New York City, where it has run for five years.
“Everyone hopes that it has a long life here,” he says. “A show will stay open as long as people are buying tickets for it.”
Dec 14-Mar 26, 7pm/7.15pm/7.30pm/7.45pm (Wed-Sat) and 3pm/3.15pm/3.30pm/3.45pm (Sat-Sun), RMB550 (RMB650 on Fri-Sat evenings). McKinnon Hotel, 1013 Beijing Xi Lu, by Jianging Lu 北京西路1013号, 近江宁路 (5299 0571, booking@mckinnonhotel.cn)
Images by Stephen Dobbie and Lindsay Nolin
0 User Comments