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Sleep No More/Play Dead/NYC report
Mar. 15th, 2011 10:07 amIt was a very fun weekend of spooky theatre in NYC. Both of the shows Alexx and I went to are of the "difficult to describe without giving spoilers" variety, so I shall limit myself to some comments.
"Sleep No More" takes place in a labyrinthian industrial space with dozens (a hundred?) smaller spaces,each an eerie assemblage which could be said to reflect some literal or psychological space contained within the text of "Macbeth." Each of these spaces has it's own soundscape, thus the 1920s bar plays steampunk/darkwave music, while a strange maze constructed of bare and twisted trees has the sounds of a howling wind blowing over a blasted heath. Through this space or labyrinth of spaces move the actors, who come together and sepearate in a nonlinear performance of the scenes from "Macbeth."
My feet gave out at just about the time I was getting seriously squicked by the dynamics of this performance. This is the setup: the "audience" wanders through this immense wasteland of a space, coming upon the disconcerting rooms--Hecate's workshop, for instance, a small room filled with bundles of herbs, small animal skeletons, and old empty bird cages--and whenever the viewers spot Macbeth, or Lady M., or the witches, the various viewers take off to follow the character to witness the unfolding scene. A couple of times I was caught up and carried along by Alexx or the audience, and I became increasingly uncomfortable with my role as a viewer. The intimate scenes between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth which first combine sex and bloodlust and then become increasingly tinged with guilt and madness come to feel almost unbearable when you are in the bedroom with the characters. The various collections and shrines of old books, statues, and medical instruments invoke tragedy and nightmare even when the rooms are uninhabited.
"Play Dead"
http://www.playdeadnyc.com/
was another mixed experience for me. Todd Robbins
http://www.toddrobbins.com/ToddHome.htm
is a fantastic performer, and I enjoyed his discussions of mostly early twentieth-century murder and spiritualism. However, I really didn't feel the fear and surprise experienced by the people around me. Am I just a jaded horror fan? Is it because, as a blind person, I don't feel a sense of anxiety about sitting in a room in the dark, as many of the people around me experienced when the lights went out? I don't think I jumped even once, although I could feel Alexx jumping occasionally. My reaction to my lack of reaction was not disappointment in the show, which I feel is well worth seeing, but a certain wistfulness regarding my own inability to be spooked or surprised.
On our way to "Play Dead," which is being staged in Greenwich Village, Alexx and I stopped at a very eccentric bookstore named
Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books.
http://unoppressivebooks.blogspot.com/
which is also a shrine to Bob Dylan. We also had a snack at Rocco's Pastry Shop on Bleecker St., which advertised having "the world's best connoli." It was a damn fine cannoli.
"Sleep No More" takes place in a labyrinthian industrial space with dozens (a hundred?) smaller spaces,each an eerie assemblage which could be said to reflect some literal or psychological space contained within the text of "Macbeth." Each of these spaces has it's own soundscape, thus the 1920s bar plays steampunk/darkwave music, while a strange maze constructed of bare and twisted trees has the sounds of a howling wind blowing over a blasted heath. Through this space or labyrinth of spaces move the actors, who come together and sepearate in a nonlinear performance of the scenes from "Macbeth."
My feet gave out at just about the time I was getting seriously squicked by the dynamics of this performance. This is the setup: the "audience" wanders through this immense wasteland of a space, coming upon the disconcerting rooms--Hecate's workshop, for instance, a small room filled with bundles of herbs, small animal skeletons, and old empty bird cages--and whenever the viewers spot Macbeth, or Lady M., or the witches, the various viewers take off to follow the character to witness the unfolding scene. A couple of times I was caught up and carried along by Alexx or the audience, and I became increasingly uncomfortable with my role as a viewer. The intimate scenes between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth which first combine sex and bloodlust and then become increasingly tinged with guilt and madness come to feel almost unbearable when you are in the bedroom with the characters. The various collections and shrines of old books, statues, and medical instruments invoke tragedy and nightmare even when the rooms are uninhabited.
"Play Dead"
http://www.playdeadnyc.com/
was another mixed experience for me. Todd Robbins
http://www.toddrobbins.com/ToddHome.htm
is a fantastic performer, and I enjoyed his discussions of mostly early twentieth-century murder and spiritualism. However, I really didn't feel the fear and surprise experienced by the people around me. Am I just a jaded horror fan? Is it because, as a blind person, I don't feel a sense of anxiety about sitting in a room in the dark, as many of the people around me experienced when the lights went out? I don't think I jumped even once, although I could feel Alexx jumping occasionally. My reaction to my lack of reaction was not disappointment in the show, which I feel is well worth seeing, but a certain wistfulness regarding my own inability to be spooked or surprised.
On our way to "Play Dead," which is being staged in Greenwich Village, Alexx and I stopped at a very eccentric bookstore named
Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books.
http://unoppressivebooks.blogspot.com/
which is also a shrine to Bob Dylan. We also had a snack at Rocco's Pastry Shop on Bleecker St., which advertised having "the world's best connoli." It was a damn fine cannoli.
