| re: Thoughts on Sleep No More? | |
| Posted by: oddone 11:35 am EDT 05/07/24 | |
| In reply to: Thoughts on Sleep No More? - mikem 09:53 am EDT 05/07/24 | |
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| I found it very underwhelming. I went back when it first opened, and at the time, most people were raving about it, since it felt very different from other experiences. So perhaps that novelty was part of it, whereas now this kind of interactive "theatre-adjacent" thing has been done more. There is sort of a storyline, but it is super basic and more episodic than anything. It pulls primarily from the Scottish play and also Rebecca, and there are "characters" of a sort. When I went many people suggested "following" a character, which I started doing, but then after following them to a room or two, they ran off (off stage, where you can't follow them). I remember trying to find some of the more notable scenes I had heard about, but never was able to. (The smaller scenes are repeated three times (I think) before the big final scene, so you can easily come across a scene you already saw, or find one you missed the first time around). There was a lot of set dressing and "atmosphere," so if you're into exploring that kind of stuff, then great. I found it got pretty boring after about ten minutes - oh look, a desk with stuff in it. I also found the "scenes" to be very underwhelming - the acting even in 2011 was very amateur, and the "writing" (such as there is) is also weak. I'm actually not sure if there are even many spoken lines - it felt more akin to a dance piece, to be honest. Maybe some singing or screaming, but I don't remember there being much dialogue, if at all. (Compare this to something like Illinoise - which also has no dialogue, but DOES have a clear, compelling story that spans the entire piece, and also has dancers who are good actors, and their acting ability allows them to make that story that much clearer. Such was NOT the case here even in 2011, and I'm sure it hasn't gotten better). I remember going in wanting to have as much time in the space as possible, and then quickly realizing I was very, very bored. Even when I came across a scene in progress, I was underwhelmed. So finally, I decided to decamp early to the main room downstairs - where it is clear the final scene would take place (since it isn't used in any scene until the finale). So I got a decent seat to that final scene I guess, but it was a lot of "waiting for this to be over." And then no one has mentioned the masks. You have to wear these masks while inside, and I found it all very silly. Not to mention - the masks are hot. You definitely don't want to wear glasses, but even without them, my face was sweating for the entire time. I'm admittedly not a fan of interactive theatre in general, so I wasn't trying to be "picked" by any of the performers, and wasn't. So if that's a concern, it probably needn't be. But the whole thing felt very amateur. I remember getting the sense that a lot of the people who seemed to like it (a lot of my fellow teachers were bringing undergrads, for example) hadn't seen a lot of theatre, and certainly hadn't done much of "moving from one space to another" when seeing theatre, so to them, perhaps the experience felt fresh and different. They were taken in by the atmosphere and set dressing and the novelty of the whole thing. Whereas I didn't find that here - it all felt hackneyed and tired, even back in 2011. I had seen all of this done before, but with a compelling narrative to boot. And yes - what storyline there is is really just cobbled together from scenes from the Scottish play. I never found that it cohered into anything more than disparate scenes. Sure, there is something akin to an "Out out damned spot" scene - but any narrative weight there comes from your own familiarity with the Scottish play, and not what you are seeing in the moment. And you might get a little more narrative if you are able to follow a single character through all of their scenes, and then switch to another character, etc. But even then - you might pick someone who leaves in the next scene. And even if you can stick with them for longer, I personally found this didn't yield the kind of story I would have wanted. |
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