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Sleep No More
Patty and I saw Sleep No More last night, which was fantastic, and has been extended through May 7, so you should go see it if you're in the area.
We were strongly cautioned to know as little as possible about it going into it and were ultimately fine with that, although we feel that the fear of spoilers was perhaps excessive.
I will write a real review on LfT, about how all interactive/imersive theater like this ultimately become a narrative about celebrity, even if that isn't the main narrative, but I wanted to post some "shit you should know" under the spoilers area -- this is like triggers and environmental concerns and stuff.
- If you have any degree of night blindness go with a friend and DO NOT SEPARATE even if you are encouraged to do so.
- Patty encountered a moment with a strobe light that really bothered her and strobes don't normally bother her. I note it because most performances warn about this and this didn't. I didn't encounter the strobe.
- Actors will touch you if you get too close or are in their way. Sometimes they will seek you out. The odds of this happening to you are low, but if you don't deal well with strangers touching you, hang back.
- I found the show erotic, and it's certainly very adult. There's a lot of nudity.
- I have a particular, hard to explain horror of medical stuff. Forced medical stuff, medicine used as punishment being particular things for me. THERE'S AN ENTIRE FLOOR OF THE EXPERIENCE THAT IS LIKE THAT. It was a bit challenging. It's not gory, but it totally messed my stuff up.
- There's a lot of blood. You may stumble on a murder scene OUT OF SYNC WITH THE ACTORS. Which meant I found the crime scene before actors did and accidentally STUCK MY HAND IN A BOWL OF "BLOOD". This may be less traumatizing to someone who hasn't played the Lady in this play, but it FREAKED MY SHIT OUT.
- I imagine someone somewhere is freaked out by people expressing non-verbal anguish or talking in made-up languages. There's not a lot of this, but I found it unsettling enough when I encountered it that I thought you should know.
- Other audience members will start doing shit that fucks with you -- like hiding in coffins and bathtubs and shit. So just, you've been warned.
- It is, hwoever, easy to tell audience from actor because of masks everyone in the audience has to wear. They do fit comfortably over glasses, but Patty said she felt hers was hard to breath in and I felt mine gave me a headache.
- Much of the set is made of old books/photographs/paper and there's a TON of artificial smoke and scent used to convey various locations. Probably not a viable show for the chemically sensitive or some asthmatics.
Now you know.
BUt the show was HOT and I will write about it when I get the chance.
We were strongly cautioned to know as little as possible about it going into it and were ultimately fine with that, although we feel that the fear of spoilers was perhaps excessive.
I will write a real review on LfT, about how all interactive/imersive theater like this ultimately become a narrative about celebrity, even if that isn't the main narrative, but I wanted to post some "shit you should know" under the spoilers area -- this is like triggers and environmental concerns and stuff.
- If you have any degree of night blindness go with a friend and DO NOT SEPARATE even if you are encouraged to do so.
- Patty encountered a moment with a strobe light that really bothered her and strobes don't normally bother her. I note it because most performances warn about this and this didn't. I didn't encounter the strobe.
- Actors will touch you if you get too close or are in their way. Sometimes they will seek you out. The odds of this happening to you are low, but if you don't deal well with strangers touching you, hang back.
- I found the show erotic, and it's certainly very adult. There's a lot of nudity.
- I have a particular, hard to explain horror of medical stuff. Forced medical stuff, medicine used as punishment being particular things for me. THERE'S AN ENTIRE FLOOR OF THE EXPERIENCE THAT IS LIKE THAT. It was a bit challenging. It's not gory, but it totally messed my stuff up.
- There's a lot of blood. You may stumble on a murder scene OUT OF SYNC WITH THE ACTORS. Which meant I found the crime scene before actors did and accidentally STUCK MY HAND IN A BOWL OF "BLOOD". This may be less traumatizing to someone who hasn't played the Lady in this play, but it FREAKED MY SHIT OUT.
- I imagine someone somewhere is freaked out by people expressing non-verbal anguish or talking in made-up languages. There's not a lot of this, but I found it unsettling enough when I encountered it that I thought you should know.
- Other audience members will start doing shit that fucks with you -- like hiding in coffins and bathtubs and shit. So just, you've been warned.
- It is, hwoever, easy to tell audience from actor because of masks everyone in the audience has to wear. They do fit comfortably over glasses, but Patty said she felt hers was hard to breath in and I felt mine gave me a headache.
- Much of the set is made of old books/photographs/paper and there's a TON of artificial smoke and scent used to convey various locations. Probably not a viable show for the chemically sensitive or some asthmatics.
Now you know.
BUt the show was HOT and I will write about it when I get the chance.
no subject
(I think my favorite was the man miming along to "Is That All Their Is" while breaking down and then having his tears wiped away by a hotel porter. Well, and all the homoeroticism with the pretty men. But then it was a little much being trapped in a tiny room with a gorgeous naked man silently directing audience members to dress him... And since you missed the strobe I'm guessing you didn't see the fetus baptism/naked guy with a goat's head/orgy/ritual scene? After a while I thought the nudity and violence got a bit one-note. If I went again, I'd take a break in the middle to spend some time relaxing in the bar and having a drink.)
Anyway. Looking forward to your review!
no subject
Did wind up pretty much dancing with the three witches (whom I loved) because I figured out how to get behind the hotel desk at the right/wrong time and kept being in the way and had to be swept out of the way repeatedly.
I was there for the thing with the porter too, and it was also my favorite moment. Very Twin Peaks.
no subject
(I also somehow cycled such to hear it twice, since at least at the Boston cast, they ran through the whole show twice.)
~Sor