Her story is incredibly compelling, and is an archetype I haven’t seen Punchdrunk use before. The other big reason to see it is the new characters. I’ll just say that Sleep No More Shanghai gave me a couple of experiences that I’d never had in a Punchdrunk show before, and that were thrilling and magical.
I don’t want to say more about it, because spoilers really do ruin magic. But as far as I know this is the first time such an approach has been integrated directly into a show.
The Drowned Man party had that crazy awesome “ studio 8 rave” (I think it was 11:11, but who knows…) and the Boy Witch party had the witches 4:4, and the Heath had a similar “Witches 3” thing when you won its lottery. Drowned Man also introduced 2:1s and 2:2s (again to my knowledge… who knows what they already did in previous shows that I didn’t see!) Punchdrunk has been edging toward this approach for a while - pushing a 1:1 to its limits with scenes like the 6th floor in Sleep No More and Studio 8 in Drowned Man. You just go with it, and have an adventure, and try to piece together afterward what happened - likely with gaps in your memory, because it was all so sudden and overwhelming. It happens so quickly and unexpectedly that your senses are overloaded, and the characters maneuver you so that you have very little choice over your own actions. This is the experience of being at the center of a fast-moving scene while multiple characters interact with you - the equivalent of a Punchdrunk roller coaster. I think that the biggest innovation of Sleep No More Shanghai is the way that it has integrated interactive experiences that have previously (to my knowledge) only been done at parties. But it doesn’t push reality/fiction boundaries to the same degree as their more recent work. And it’s strange to have visceral, physical experiences with fictional characters. It does blur some boundaries - you often feel voyeuristic, viewing scenes while feeling as if you are not supposed to be there. In some ways, recreating Sleep No More feels like a step backwards. Punchdrunk also experimented with this idea in the Samsung 837 VR experience and the Silverpoint game, further blurring the distinction between reality and fictional experience. (Or maybe it *was* actually happening.) To watch Phoebe run the character loops, and to read references to the real performers in her character files, and to be unsure of the boundary between the fictional world and real world. Stanford call “cut” when you thought something was actually happening. To realize that a character you thought was “real” was actually following a script. Or to wonder if a scene was really happening within the context of the show, or was the delusion of a character losing their mind. You could never be comfortable with your understanding of what was “real.” It was startling to walk into the bar in a mask, following a character, then realize the bar was actually populated with other audience members with their masks off. I think that the great innovation of Drowned Man was the way that it blurred the boundaries between real reality, the “reality” of the show, the film within the show, and the dreams and delusions of the characters in the show. In a way I am hesitant to share thoughts because I know it is going to continue to evolve, but I don’t know when/if I’ll return, so I can only comment on what I’ve already seen.įirst, the question of whether this adds anything new to the Punchdrunk oeuvre, or is merely a rehashing of the New York show. We saw it steadily improve each day we were there. It’s totally worth seeing if you are a fan of Punchdrunk. Go, let yourself be completely surprised, and make up your own mind about it.*** ***If there is any chance at all that you will see the Shanghai show, please do not read this. As always, be warned that there will be spoilers, though I’ll keep it vague & try not to spoil anything significant. Here’s a wrap-up post with my overall thoughts on Sleep No More Shanghai. Sleep No More Shanghai - Concluding Thoughts
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