Stephen and I just went last night with a group of friends to experience a new theatre piece in NYC, Sleep No More. It’s loosely based on Macbeth, but does not tell quite a linear story. I say experience rather than, see, because that is what it is, it’s an experience of theatre. I’m a fan of Halloween Haunted Houses, and of course that was the first thing I though of when we were going to this. However, this did not involve cheesy acting, paper sets, and hokey sound effects, the quality of the experience is an all around artistic triumph. The “dancers” who were carefully cast, including a friend of ours who played the porter, are able to create emotional honesty, and are perfectly cast in each role. It’s hard to imagine, from my perspective, the amount of rehearsal, and physical therapy to get through each performance.

The experience to me is flawless, however, the audience needs some etiquette lessons. They have established rules that protect everyone, especially the performers: You must wear a mask at all times, and no talking. However, some of the people in the “audience” acted as if they were in the performance. It was very frustrating to see a Dungeon’s a Dragon’s fan, think they were playing a video game by holding one of the performers hands. But, the cast does not let that distract them, they seamlessly go about their flawless performances.

Please go see this show, and support these amazing performers. It’s hard to describe to you the experience, you must experience it yourself.