This is a write-up of my experience attending Sleep No More in NYC. First off, I suggest reading a bit about it here and here. In a nutshell, Sleep No More is an eerie, immersive and modern take on Shakespeare's Macbeth. Instead of a stage with actors you watch in a series of acts, the "play" is set in the old abandoned McKittrick Hotel. Each audience member is handed a white mask, to be worn at all times within the "staging areas." First, we were ushered in batches into a large elevator where a handful were let out at different floors. From there, we were told not to speak at all, to each other or any of the actors, and were free to roam the hotel at our own pace. The amount of detail that was put into the set was astounding. We were free to rifle through drawers, papers, open doors, eat candy, and touch just about every single piece of prop. The place was both haunting and captivating all at the same time. There were definitely moments where I felt that I simply could not move on because of fear. I am deathly afraid of the dark or wherever "things" might be lurking in the shadows. Vien and I decided to separate soon after we got in so we could explore at our own pace without having to think about where the other person would like to go next. We would find each other a few times through the evening but would again separate until we met up later at the hotel bar that was made up to be set in the 1930s complete with a jazz band on a dimly lit and smoke-hazed stage and waitresses in flapper outfits.

Each audience member has their own unique experience. As I've mentioned earlier, there were parts wherein I felt the need to double back and look for Vien because I couldn't go pass the part where we had to walk through a space made to look like a graveyard. Once you get passed that, you will find a glass room with a claw foot tub set in the middle of a room on a pedestal. The tub is filled with blood stained water and the floor is littered with old handwritten letters. There was a room with empty, made beds and another with more claw foot tubs lined against the wall. There was a floor made to look like a small town at night, filled with random shops you could enter and go through stuff. There was an actual candy store filled with jars and jars of candy you can eat. One floor was an interior of an old house, each room was designed with careful detail that it felt like being in movie set of a very, very, scary movie. Vien led me to a room that looked like a child's room. Filled with old ragged toys and an unmade bed. It seemed very ordinary at first, until he led me to the mirror beside the bed. Looking through the mirror, you'll see everything in the room was the same, all except for the bed, which appeared  to have large bloodstain in the middle as if someone was stabbed in their sleep and their body carried away.

Every few minutes, actor/s would enter and exit the scene. You could tell they were actors because they were obviously not wearing masks. You can choose to follow any character you want through the rooms and floors until you stumble upon another actor that you may or may not want to follow next. There were so many things happening all at once that I felt like I was missing out on certain parts by staying in one space. It was all very surreal walking through a crowd of masked people trying to discern which ones were actors and which ones weren't. If you've seen the Stanley Kubrick movie Eyes Wide Shut then you can imagine how it was like in there.

It all ended in a final culminating scene that gathered all actors and audience members into a large ballroom. Vien and I missed most of what happened there because we were in another floor witnessing a bunch of witches dancing to drum and bass passing along what appeared to be a blood stained child. It was only when we followed one of the actors in that scene into the ballroom that we were able to witness the final scenes that led to one character being hanged in the middle of the room.

It's quite difficult to offer a more general write up for it since each individual has their own unique experience. I now understand why people who've been to the show and those who have written articles about it could not offer more detail. Sleep No More needs to be experienced, not narrated. It is meant to be felt, not be read.

Sleep No More runs until the first week of December 2011. I just might have another go before it ends.