As a brilliant interactive theatre, Sleep No More is quite different from most typical theatres. The original version started out as a warehouse building retrofitted as the McKittrick Hotel located in Lower Manhattan in New York City. In addition to Sleep No More the venue now offers several additional experiences that have their own flavor and are quite enjoyable.
When you “check in” to the “McKittrick Hotel”, you’re ushered into the hotel’s lounge, until everyone is accounted for. You can order drinks and be entertained by the lounge singers, where sometimes even a celebrity like Pink stops by.
As your group enters the hotel from the lounge, you are required to wear the mask provided, which adds to the mystery.
Since the actors (posing as hotel staff, hotel guests and other characters) do not wear masks, the audience can follow the plots as they unfold before them, that occur throughout the huge hotel. As you meander from room to room on the five floors, you discover different information and experience different pieces of the plot. While there is a fair amount of walking, there is an elevator available for those who would like to take advantage of not using the stairs.
While the entire storyline occurs in a specific time period, there are many mini plots developing. This adds to the experience, challenging you to be in the moment and use your sleuthing skills.
The actors are dispersed throughout the hotel which places you in the midst of the plot. The audience meanders through numerous rooms, different floors, collecting the various pieces of the story. Due to the vastness of the “stage”, the audience will collect different clues to solve the plot thus having different experiences.
As the storyline unfolds, the main characters unveil the plot, and those watching find themselves quickly following them as they move about the hotel. Ultimately everyone (actors and audience) find themselves in one location, where the final scene plays out using all the major characters.
Please note that the end scene of the hotel experience can be disturbing for some.