My husband and I are instructed to alight at different floors of the five-level McKittrick Hotel. The entertainment venue in New York City is designed to resemble an eerie house on a 1930s film noir set.
Once he leaves, I am surrounded by strangers in strange masks – a cross between the ones in V for Vendetta and Squid Game.
Donning my own pearlescent version, I hesitantly follow the crowd into a candlelit room, all of us pursuing a booming voice waxing eloquent about the injustices of the world. Soon enough, we split up, too.
I am captivated by an alcove lined wall-to-wall with books and heavy silver candelabras. Others seek the airiness of a courtyard only to discover they’ve walked in on a couple in a bathtub right at the centre, while some make a beeline for a makeshift bar. The books can be picked up and read; the couple ignores us entirely; and the bartender pours a hesitant audience member a shot of what turns out to be water.
We are, all of us, unwitting but thoroughly entertained quasi-players in Sleep No More.
The concept allows the audience to wander freely through the “stages” set up as part of the play.
They can follow a single character they are most drawn to, or spend the two-odd hours exploring different rooms and props even as the real actors carry on with their movement and dialogue, seemingly unbothered by the crowd that is close enough to touch.
The maze-like venue, complete with rickety stairs and dim lighting, is tricky to manoeuvre. I often find myself with my arms outstretched to check that I am not walking into a wall or, worse, one of the actors. There are some jump scares and at least one choreographed dance.
From goosebumps to glee, the performance elicits a gamut of emotions.
At the end, audience members converge in a central dining room, to witness a rather graphic scene – think witches at the stake and medium-rare steak. Random, but that is the whole point.
After all, the reason for splitting up groups is so that they can discuss what they each saw and heard across the different stages, and draw open-ended conclusions about the plot, which is loosely based on Shakespeare's Macbeth. To me, it was more akin to an Alfred Hitchcock film – a cross between Rebecca and Vertigo. Others have compared it to the Paisley witch trials in 1690s Scotland.
As my English literature professors told me: there are no wrong answers.
It's a thoroughly enjoyable – if at times unnerving – way of watching a play, one that viewers in the UAE may soon be able to witness for themselves.
Punchdrunk, the British theatre company behind Sleep No More, has been enlisted to put together the entertainment at Wynn Al Marjan Island resort in Ras Al Khaimah. The show will be created exclusively for Wynn by the company's founder and artistic director, Felix Barrett.
Inspired by classic Las Vegas revue-style productions, the show will combine music, dance and immersive theatre, allowing audiences to choose between a traditional seated performance and a free-roaming backstage experience that reveals a parallel version of the story.
While it’s not confirmed that the show coming to Wynn Al Marjan Island will follow in the footsteps of Sleep No More, all Punchdrunk performances are known for their use of audience immersion.
Its audio-led Lander 23 experience took the form of a live-action video game, with ticket holders doubling as the crew harvesting a new energy source in an alien city. In The Drowned Man, based on German playwright Georg Buchner’s Woyzeck, the cast grants guests one-on-one experiences.
While Sleep No More is the only Punchdrunk production I’ve experienced, next on my wish list is Viola’s Room. The gothic mystery takes a barefoot audience through a labyrinthine installation – and it’s written by Booker-shortlisted Daisy Johnson and narrated by Helena Bonham Carter to boot.
The company has also teamed up with Tony-winning writer David Kelly on Autumn, and with Rihanna for the launch of her eighth album Anti, through which fans could journey through a series of rooms to learn more about the singer’s life.
It is little wonder that Punchdrunk has been called a “world-conquering theatre rebel” – now making its foray into the Middle East through Wynn.
So whether they are visiting the Ras Al Khaimah property to try their luck in the UAE’s first licensed gaming resort or to partake in what promises to be an unconventional style of entertainment – guests are in for a rare treat.
