SLEEP NO MORE is an immersive adaptation of Macbeth with a run time of about three hours. I want to share it with others, and more importantly, I want to pass on the respect and gratitude that I feel toward the show. All of this is to say that I care deeply about this show. The memory of that very first visit led me to seek out the immersive theater community in L.A. Particular songs, smells, or even the décor in some hip speakeasy will immediately snap me back to 2011 and the first time that I experienced the show. One might even say my wedding had a subtle SLEEP NO MORE theme. I spent a summer working front of house on the show and sneaking into the space on my breaks. I’ve shelled out money that I didn’t really have in order to return to the McKittrick Hotel a dozen times since the show opened. Now, I don’t claim to be the end-all-be-all expert, but for the better part of a decade, this show has been a constant influence in my life. Still just as obsessed as ever, my friend had volunteered on the show by “fireproofing the apothecary,” a phrase that sounded completely ridiculous at the time, but is wholly impressive in retrospect. A few years later, in March of 2011, SLEEP NO MORE opened its doors in New York. I can only remember tiny details something about Shakespeare, something about the show being staged in an old elementary school, and something about… dancing? I didn’t get it. I had never seen someone talk about a show with such fervor. I was also lucky enough to experience 1:1s with the Porter, Agnes Naismith, and the Tailor.In 2007, a friend of mine at NYU told me about an immersive theater show that they had seen in Boston. I just wanted to share, because I'm still on a high from it all. It was all so lovely, and really made the experience even more personal. I said yes, and then she thanked me for participating! Like, girl, thank YOU. She saw me, tapped my shoulder, and asked if I had been one of hers that night - which, I'm surprised she recognized me, because she hadn't taken my mask off during the 1:1, so she never actually saw my face up there.

When I was leaving SNM at the end, the actress who had taken me up there was greeting guests by the exit, and suggesting people head up to Gallow Green for a post-show drink. I won't spoil the actual experience, of course, but I will say it's one of the best 1:1s of the show.

Then, she grabbed her suitcase, took my hand, and led me upstairs. Finally, after a few minutes, I caught her gaze and we stared at each other for a while, until a look of recognition crossed her face. I walked over and stood by her, just waiting to see what she'd do - people still passed us by as if they didn't even see us. No one was around her, and though a few people passed by, they didn't stop. She wasn't moving an inch, and since it was so dark I almost missed her - it was as if she was a ghost. As I approached, I saw a woman, no mask, sitting on the chair outside the office there just staring ahead. I did get distracted by a few things in Gallow Green, but probably 15 minutes later I went up to the hospital floor and made my way to the waiting room area. I'd thought the elevator was the primary way to get up there, but I'd heard about a nurse with a suitcase sometimes taking guests up there as well, so when we were let into the show through the staircase, I went upstairs to check out the hospital in case. Yesterday (Sunday) during the 4 pm show, though, I finally ended up there! It was my sixth time going to Sleep No More, and though in the past I've been lucky enough to experience a few 1:1s, I'd never managed to figure out a way to the sixth floor. Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again.

Sleep no more sixth floor