One thing that really scares me is the weird party scene in Eyes Wide Shut where everyone is naked and wearing masks. I think it was mostly created to scare the crap out of me, as most Stanley Kubrick movies are. He and David Lynch really know how to push my oh-my-god-that's-the-creepiest-thing-I've-ever-seen-I'm-going-to-have-nightmares-about-this-forever buttons. But here's the scariest part: I have reason to believe the weird naked mask-wearing party scene in Eyes Wide Shut is based on actual parties that happen in Los Angeles. Bryan Callen told a story on the Risk Podcast that talks about the real-life existence of these creepy masked get-togethers, and ever since, I've had nightmares about wandering through a weird house where everyone is wearing masks and lounging around on Victorian furniture. Thanks a lot, Kubrick.
My friend, musician and wardrobe goddess Laura Bowman, called me up last week and offered me tickets to the new show she's working on. "It's called Sleep No More. All you have to do is put on a mask and wander around a weird, creepy warehouse while watching an interpretive dance version of Macbeth," she says. "Oh, and yes, the cast does get naked." Well, since I've been on this Do Stuff That Scares Me kick and Sleep No More is clearly my nightmare-come-true, I knew I had to go.
Sleep No More was created by the British theater company Punchdrunk, who are making some changes in the way New Yorkers think about theater. The role of an audience member hasn't changed much since 550 B.C., when the Greeks created the basic concept of proscenium seating (a bunch of chairs facing a stage, giving the audience a window-like view of the action) and performed the "We'll do something and you'll sit here and watch this" type of theater most of us are used to. Punchdrunk is offering something new – well, sort of. Wikipedia calls Punchdrunk's technique "an 'immersive' presentation in which the audience is free to choose what to watch and where to go." Basically, there's no set beginning, middle and end to this play, and whatever you happen to see is what you get.
Although it's definitely the first time I've ever seen anything like this in New York, this choose-your-own-adventure style of theater isn't entirely innovative. Maria Irene Fornes used a similar immersive concept in her 1977 play Fefu and Her Friends. In Fefu, audience members are split into groups. Each group views a different scene at a different time (which is also pretty similar to the old [and also creepy] Disney ride, The Carousel of Progress). Eventually, the characters all cross paths, bringing the cast and audience together into one location for a final, climactic endgame. Sleep No More is a similar deal – audience members are split into groups and invited to wander through the set at their leisure to discover the scenes in whatever order they wish. But because the whole audience is wearing identical white masks and exploring five darkened floors full of rusty hospital beds, desk drawers overflowing with pieces of hair and a broken crib with hundreds of headless baby dolls hovering above it, the whole thing kind of blew my mind.
Because I'm sure I would've peed my pants or had a heart attack, I'm very thankful I didn't have a one-on-one encounter with any of the actors. Before I went to the show, I read a bunch of Yelp reviews to see what I was getting into, and apparently one guy was led by an actor into a creepy secret bathroom with a running shower. The actor instructs (silently – did I mention there is no talking allowed?) the guy to sit in a small bathroom stall. The actor locks the door, leaves the room and turns off the lights. Just when the guy is getting really scared, the lights come back on and the actor is in the stall with the guy, sitting right there next to him! AHHHH!!! Although I definitely didn't get an experience like that, I did get to see some absolutely beautiful dance sequences that defy gravity without the use of any hydraulics (got that, Wicked?) In my favorite scene, a male character (I have no idea what Macbeth character he was supposed to be) flipped around like a gymnast in an alcove full of old water pipes and suitcases. Did I have any idea what was going on? No, and I know Macbeth pretty well. But the stage pictures that Sleep No More creates are so stirring, the plot becomes secondary. And surprisingly, I was fine with that.
If you're looking for a play full of characters with heart and a tearful curtain call, Sleep No More is definitely not your thing. You're going to walk out saying, "Yes, but what was it about? The guy covered in blood was who?" But if you're looking for a rad place to spend Halloween week... Well, it's sold out until the end of the year. But if you're: A.) braver than me, and B.) happen to have an old trilby hat laying around, you might want to sign up to be in the play, because Sleep No More is looking for extras to "create special Halloween week events." And I bet that cast and crew really know how to throw a Halloween after party.
