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,[6] but the production was subsequently extended throughout 2024.[7] In October 2024, a final performance date of January 5, 2025 was announced[8] along with a trio of farewell parties entitled APPARITIONS scheduled for January 2025.[9]
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."[10]
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.[11] Otherwise very little direction is given to audience members about what to expect or how they should interact with the show.
Show
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 appearance of Banquo's ghost 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).
In the following list, a * next to the character name indicates that they are primarily based on a character from Macbeth.
Principal characters
Duncan* – King of Scotland and father of Malcolm. After waking up and getting dressed, he attends the ball held by Lady Macbeth in his honor. Upon leaving the ball, 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 until he learns of his father's murder. 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. She begins her loop reading a letter from Macbeth telling her about the first prophecy. In an elaborate dance, 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. Following an argument with his wife, Macduff heads to the ball and is enchanted by Bald Witch and Sexy Witch. He responds to Banquo's summons, plays a card game with Banquo and Malcolm, and interrogates Malcolm. In the first two loops, he finds the corpse of his wife in the hotel lobby and confronts Catherine Campbell. In the final loop, he helps Malcolm kill Macbeth at the feast.
Lady Macduff* – Scottish noblewoman and wife of Lord Macduff. Lady Macduff is visibly pregnant in the play and begins her loop unpacking in a child's bedroom. She goes to the ball after an argument with Macduff, where Catherine Campbell feeds her witch's milk, causing her to collapse. After recovering in her residence, she proceeds to the hotel lobby where she is tempted by Catherine Campbell with more witch's milk. She drinks some and goes to the feast. In her first two loops, she flees from the feast to the hotel lobby, where she is murdered by Macbeth.
Hecate* – leader of the witches. Hecate spends most of her time in the replica bar, where she eats raw liver and lip-syncs to "Is That All There Is?". Around the midpoint of her loop, she summons the three witches and Macbeth for a rave where Macbeth receives the second set of prophecies. She is then visited by Agnes Naismith, whose tears she takes and later feeds to Speakeasy.
Sexy Witch* (also known as Fate)– one of Hecate's followers. She begins her loop by giving the first prophecy to Macbeth and then proceeds to tempt Speakeasy before heading to the ball. After the ball, she goes to the hotel lobby where the Porter gives Banquo a letter with a prophecy. She seduces Banquo and taunts the Porter by dancing with Boy Witch before heading upstairs to enchant Macduff. She then plays dead in the morgue until she is discovered by Fulton, at which point she goes with the other witches to the rave. She dances alone in the replica bar after the rave until Hecate sends her to the feast.
Bald Witch* – one of Hecate's followers. Bald Witch begins her loop wearing a wig. She delivers the first prophecy to Macbeth before seducing Banquo and attending the ball. After the ball, she removes her wig and encounters Macduff. She watches Banquo in the lobby, then frees Boy Witch in the speakeasy and walks with him to the rave. She recovers in the apothecary after the rave and proceeds to the feast. After the feast in the first two loops, she cleans herself up and puts her wig back on.
Boy Witch* – one of Hecate's followers. After he helps deliver the first prophecy to Macbeth, he does a lip-sync of "Is That All There Is?" and taunts the Porter. After the ball, he returns to the lobby to dance with Sexy Witch and further torture the Porter. He then proceeds to the speakeasy, where he scares off Agnes Naismith before being locked in a box by Speakeasy. Bald Witch releases him and walks with him to the rave. After the rave, he flees to a shower where he cries before re-dressing and heading to the feast.
The Porter* – manager of the hotel lobby, where he can be found for most of his loop. His name is a reference to the porter who has a brief comedic scene in Act II of Macbeth. He appears to be attracted to Boy Witch and trapped in the service of Hecate. He spends much of his time cleaning the lobby and writing notes to Hecate in the back room. He also spies on Agnes Naismith and later gives her directions to Hecate's lair in the replica bar. After being tormented by Boy Witch, he tries unsuccessfully to prevent Catherine Campbell from giving more milk to Lady Macduff. In the first two loops, he hides and writes a note to Hecate as Macbeth murders Lady Macduff in the lobby.
Catherine Campbell (also known as the Maid or Mrs. Danvers) – maid at the McKittrick. Campbell begins her loop by dancing on Duncan's bed and rearranging his room. During the ball, she gives Lady Macduff witch's milk and helps Lady Macbeth drug Duncan's drink. After the ball, she resurrects Duncan and dances with him, as well as twice preparing more milk and feeding it to Lady Macduff. She takes a letter from the Porter to the Macbeth residence before putting the resurrected Duncan to bed.
Speakeasy (also known as Speaks) – bartender at a speakeasy and servant or familiar of Hecate. He spends most of his loop at the speakeasy, where he cleans the bar and plays card games. He interacts with Sexy Witch, Fulton, Agnes Naismith, Boy Witch, Bald Witch, Malcolm, Macduff, Banquo, and Macbeth as they pass through the speakeasy. He briefly visits the taxidermist's and the funeral home before being fed Agnes' tears by Hecate.
Agnes Naismith – a young woman who arrives at the McKittrick Hotel looking for her missing sister, Grace. After encountering Hecate, she flirts with Fulton before stealing his money and rejecting his advances. When she goes to the hotel lobby, the Porter finds her money and she flees to Malcolm's detective office after receiving a phone call. Malcolm discovers her and they kiss after he checks her for a witch's mark. She flees to the speakeasy but is scared off by the arrival of Boy Witch, at which point she returns to the hotel lobby. She gets Hecate's location from the Porter and goes to the replica bar, where Hecate collects her tears. Agnes then sleeps in her apartment for the rest of her loop.
Mr. Fulton (also known as the Tailor) – tailor and cunning person working against the forces of evil. He flirts with Agnes Naismith when she arrives in his shop, but is rejected. Mr. Barragan arrives at his shop and asks Fulton to fix his coat. When Fulton tries to inspect Barragan while returning his coat, the two scuffle in the tailor shop. Fulton goes to inspect Speakeasy but also fails. He finds Sexy Witch in the morgue and she throws him out on to the street when she wakes up. He views the rave through the open door and, horrified, returns to his shop. He flees from an angry Barragan and sneaks into Agnes' room while she's sleeping to cover her with a blanket.
Mr. Barragan (also known as the Taxidermist or Taxi) – a malevolent taxidermist who struggles with Fulton. He spends most of his loop around his shop, tidying up. He asks Fulton to repair his lab coat but this results in an altercation between the two in the tailor shop. He also sews a note into a teddy bear and places it in Lady Macduff's residence. When she confronts him about this later, he hands her another note. He also engages in some mysterious rituals in the woods outside of King James Sanitarium and the graveyard near the Macbeth residence. He confronts Fulton again about a missing object but leaves when Fulton barricades himself in the funeral parlor.
Nurse Shaw – nurse at King JamesSanitarium, where she stays for the majority of her loop. She witnesses Matron Lang write something on a post and then collapse. After she helps Matron Lang back into her hut, the two embrace until Matron Lang begins banging her rocking chair against the wall. Nurse Shaw makes her way to the operating theater where she realizes that her hand appears to be acting of its own accord. She again meets Matron Lang in the woods and the two mirror each other's movement. Nurse Shaw watches the feast and returns to find Lady Macbeth in a bed at the sanitarium. She helps Lady Macbeth into a bath and brings Lady Macbeth's dress down to her residence.
Matron Lang – reclusive, possibly prophetic, head nurse at King James Sanitarium. She spends almost her entire loop sitting in a rocking chair in a small hut in the woods outside of the sanitarium, often staring silently at the wall. At one point, she leaves her hut to write something on a post and then collapses. Nurse Shaw helps her back to her hut, but leaves when Matron Lang begins banging her rocking chair against the wall. Matron Lang later leaves the hut again to wander in the woods where she encounters Nurse Shaw and the two mirror each other's movements. Matron Lang then returns to her hut.
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 (also known as the Bellhop) – 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.[12]
The Reverend – a pious hermit found in an igloo-like structure off one of the asylum wings
CarolineReville – 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".
Sleep No More is set in the fictitious McKittrick Hotel, whose website claims that it has been recently "restored"[13] but which is actually a block of warehouses. The McKittrick Hotel consists of five audience-accessible floors, throughout which the action of Sleep No More takes place simultaneously. Not all rooms or floors are related to the hotel theming. Various set elements establish the setting as the fictitious town of Gallow Green, Glamis, Forfar, Scotland (named after the spot where witches were burned alive during the Paisley witch trials).
Set description
Floor 1 – The McKittrick Hotel Ballroom. This floor is mostly taken up by a large ballroom which includes a dance area and a long table for the feast scene. It is also the setting of the finale. There is a small crypt on this floor, as well as a mezzanine level which contains a room for Catherine Campbell and a room, study, chapel, and canopy area belonging to Duncan. In addition to Catherine Campbell and Duncan, all characters attending the ball or feast visit this level, as do the remaining characters during the finale.
Floor 2 – The McKittrick Hotel Lobby. This floor is themed to resemble a hotel lobby, which includes a front desk, a dining room, a small stage, phone booths, a dressing room, a lost luggage area, a lost items area, and an office for the Porter. The Porter spends his entire loop on this floor, where he is visited by the witches, Lady Macduff, Agnes Naismith, Catherine Campbell, Macbeth, Banquo, Macduff, and Lady Macbeth. The Manderley bar is also on this level, although no principal characters go there during their loops.
Floor 3 – The McKittrick Hotel Residences. This floor is home to the Macbeth's residence, consisting of a large bedroom with a tub in the middle and a ruined courtyard surrounding it. Beyond this is a cemetery and the Macduff residence, which consists of a living room, a bedroom for Lord and Lady Macduff, a child's bedroom, and a room with a crib. This floor is primarily used by Lord and Lady Macbeth and Lord and Lady Macduff but is also visited by Nurse Shaw, Catherine Campbell, Fulton, and Barragan.
Floor 4 – The High Street of Gallow Green. This floor is themed as the high street of a small town in Scotland. There is a large street with a number of storefronts, including Malcolm's detective agency (Mac Crinain & Reid) with a dark room in the back, a funeral parlor with a mortuary room, Barragan's taxidermy store, a sweets shop (Paisley Sweets), and Fulton's tailor shop. Also on the high street is Agnes Naismith's apartment, which has a small living room in front with a bedroom behind it. Off of the high street is a passage to a speakeasy with a winding storage room behind it. A different passage gives access to a small interrogation room, a locked law office, and the "replica bar," which resembles a dark version of the Manderley bar and is usually occupied by Hecate. Behind the taxidermy shop is a desk for the taxidermist, a shower, and an apothecary; this area is also accessible from the replica bar. Hecate, Speakeasy, Agnes Naismith, Fulton, Barragan, and Malcolm all spend substantial time on this floor, while most other characters pass through.
Floor 5 – The King James Sanitarium. This floor resembles an antiquated asylum, including a room full of patient beds, a room full of bathtubs, an operating theater, a pair of offices, a laundry room, a room with medical equipment, and a padded cell. Beyond the room with bathtubs is a woods, devoid of leaves and in the shape of a maze. The woods contains a goat statue, gates, a post, and a hut belonging to, and usually occupied by, Matron Lang. This floor is almost exclusively used by Nurse Shaw and Matron Lang, with visits from Lady Macbeth, Barragan, and the Sixth Floor Nurse.
There is a small performance space on the sixth floor as well, but it is not open to guests unless they are selected by the Sixth Floor Nurse for a special one-on-one interaction.
Theming
All areas of the set are consistent with the 1930s theming and are generally detailed. Many of the residences contain letters between characters that audience members are welcome to read at their leisure; some of these are written on stationary from the McKittrick and include its logo and address. Books are included in many locations, such as Rebecca in Agnes Naismith's living room, a Bible in Fulton's shop, books on witchcraft and botany in the apothecary, and children's books in the Macduff residence. Trees, symbolizing the Birnam Wood prophecy in Macbeth, can be found in the ballroom, as a chess set in the hotel lobby, and in Malcolm's office. Other set details include:
large advertisements on the Gallow Green high street
walls of keys, a locker of abandoned items, and a menu for the restaurant in the hotel lobby
pages of books with lines cut out throughout the fourth and fifth floors
jars of medicine, locks of patients' hair, and medical records throughout the sanitarium
jars of sweets in Paisley's Sweets
a trick mirror in the Macduff residence that reveals bloodstains on a child's bed
cubbies full of paper boats and crosses made of utensils stuck in salt in the hotel lobby
a symbol for the witch's coven that can be found in the tiles of the ballroom and in feathers on the wall of the padded cell
a neon sign leading to the replica bar reading "Hello There" designed so that the "o" and "T" would flicker, rendering it "Hell here"
There are also some items that audience members are allowed to take, namely the sweets in Paisley's Sweets and the various business cards available on the high street.
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'sHaunted Mansion.[11] The production is mostly wordless, prompting The New Yorker'sHilton 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."[14] Testimonials for Sleep No More have also been given by such celebrities as Neil Patrick Harris, Brendon Urie, Leslie Odom, Jr., Evan Rachel Wood, and Aaron Paul, all of whom have also appeared as guest characters in the production.[1][15][16]
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.[21] Similarly, on TripAdvisor, Sleep No More has garnered 1,625 customer reviews, with 77% being either 4 or 5 stars.[22] 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.[23]
Controversy
In 2018, Buzzfeed News reported that eight performers and staffers stated that they had been groped by audience members during the show.[24] Further reporting has found similar issues in other immersive shows,[25] although the anonymity provided by audience masks in Sleep No More may inadvertently encourage such behavior and make it harder to identify perpetrators.[26]
Sleep No More has also been engaged in lawsuits alleging unpaid rent and expired permits.[27][28]
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.[29] 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.[30]
A new production in Seoul at the Daehan Theater in partnership with the Miss Jackson production company was announced in 2024.[31][32]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sleep No More.
