Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Coincidental theater

This is a random entry and has nothing to do with my children (as my remaining 2 readers click away...)

Anyways.

Continuing.

Sometimes I read this blog: http://www.reagansblob.com/page/2/ I don't know why I just do.

A little while ago she mentioned this tidbit:

"Also, last night Jake and I went to *Sleep No More. I had to buy tickets clear back in November because they were sold out for so long. It was insane!!! I don’t know what to think, but that’s ok because we are going again next month.*Sleep no more is a theatre type show in a huge old hotel. It’s floors and floors of intricate sets/rooms. You wear masks and follow the characters you’re most interested in. I went with Jake and two friends, but we split up at the beginning and had our own very different experiences, seeing totally different things. It’s very strange and not for everyone, but so so cool if that’s your bag."

Then a few nights ago I was searching for something to read on the kindle and came across "The Night Circus" available to borrow from the library site. I figured I'd give it a try since most of the other available titles were 1. romance novels 2. Dr. Laura books (apparently her advice is not well-valued out here) or 3. super specific non-applicable titles such as "A Guide to Better Relationships between Black Men and Women" (no, I'm serious).As I was reading it I kept thinking "this reminds me of that theater thing mentioned in that one blog thingy I read" and "it would be cool if this were made into one of those theater things and you could wander from tent to tent and follow the characters around."Then at the end of the book there was an Acknowledgments section, as there always is, and I read it, as I always do AND the author mentioned something called Punchdrunk as a source of inspiration.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"IF New York’s junk shops, antiques fairs and confectioners have fielded some odd requests recently, it may be because the British theater company Punchdrunk is coming to town for the first time. The props list for its show “Sleep No More,” an environmental, stylized mash-up of Shakespearean drama and Hitchcockian noir, reads like the contents of a madman’s shopping cart: plastic teeth, animal eyes, hair samples, several kinds of blood, caramel spray. For “Sleep No More,” which arrives in New York after a run at a school near Boston in 2009, the company took over six stories of three adjoining warehouses on West 27th Street in the Chelsea gallery district. Audience members don masks and explore some 100 rooms and environments, including a spooky hospital, mossy garden and bloody bedroom. An eerie soundtrack fills the air as costumed performers move about all six floors re-enacting pivotal scenes from “Macbeth.”Each room has a back story that has been painstakingly detailed and designed with a mid-1930s vibe. More than 200 unpaid volunteer artists spent about four months hand-writing letters, coloring wallpaper and building furniture. A spokesman for the show declined to say how much the production cost, other than the budget was “in the millions of dollars.” . . .“In our world, every single drawer, cupboard, wardrobe that can be opened, should be opened because you’ll find something inside,” he said."

_________________________________________________________________________

Punchdrunk IS that theater thing that the book reminded me of.

I feel 1. very clever 2. like the stars are aligning for some mysterious purpose and 3. like I need to go see this.

The End.

Acknowledgments:
My clown collection - because circuses are fascinating, but also creepy. My baby - for sleeping in her bed by herself long enough for me to type this.


3 comments:

Megan Busath said...

I read that it has a fair amount of nudity in it.

ottspot said...

Hmm that would be very awkward...since you'd be standing right next to them and all. Actually I don't care much about the performance part of it at all. I just want to go explore all the rooms and open drawers and peak in closets! I wonder if they make you follow around characters or if you could just choose to go in rooms that aren't occupied at the moment.

ZAC said...

That sounds totally interesting! I'm thrilled to know about this new entertainment medium in New York. Next time I'm out there, I'm looking it up! I hope you are well! I've dropped of the blogging world but you are one of the few people I'm checking on tonight!