Episode 5: Sleep No More Forever

All the world’s a stage. 

This week we’re in New York City, where 14 years ago a daring, immersive pop-up production of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” performed largely without words but with the audience wearing masks, appeared in a Chelsea Warehouse. Presented by the British theater company called Punchdrunk, the show was titled “Sleep No More.” The supposed “pop-up” ran for 14 years, closing this January but forever altering the New York theater landscape.  

“Sleep No More” showed how audiences don’t need to simply sit in front of a proscenium stage, they can be part of the action—or at least feel like they are. And so “Sleep No More” inspired countless other “immersive” productions. Even Broadway has taken notice. Last year saw a new version of “Cabaret,” presented in a theater reconfigured as if you weren’t seeing a musical, but rather entering the “Kit Kat Klub,” a fictional Berlin dive immortalized in Christopher Isherwood’s stories that inspired Kander & Ebb’s classic show. 

Even the most commercial Broadway fatcat, Andrew Lloyd Webber, is trying to capitalize on this craze. Last year he authorized a downtown version of “Cats,” re-imagined as a campy, drag-show with the kitties prancing down a runway to a hip-hop remix of the 1980’s score. This fall, he’s presenting “Masquerade,” which is basically “Phantom of the Opera” meets “Sleep No More.” You show up—formal attire and mask required—and are quietly ushered into an old art supply store in midtown.  

For the next two-plus hours you are led around multiple floors – and handed flutes of Taittinger Champagne - as a troupe of performers perform a stripped-down adaptation of “Phantom.” It lacks the unabashed theatricality of the original Hal Prince production, but it is undeniably fun. The silly plot and lush melodies go down easier in fact as you experience it on-the-go rather than sitting in a seat is if its proper theater. 

But both “Masquerade” and “Cabaret,” for all their fun (the audiences at both howled with delight at curtain call and seemed thoroughly entertained) feel less that real theatrical re-invention, but rather: clever marketing that successfully makes you feel as if new wine is being poured from old bottles. 

For those wanting real theatrical transformation, the most exciting New York stage right now is secret space hidden in the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Yes, you heard that correctly. A crude, corporate cubby hole – that used to be a Mrs. Fields Cookie store - has been re-upholstered as The Hidden Jewel Box Theater. Last month, a company of six dedicated performers put on “Bedtime Stories,” a thrilling mix of whimsy, burlesque and ballet. To say too much about it is to give away its magic, but if you are passionate about theater, this is one of those rare happenings that is truly transporting. And naturally, the city is trying to evict the troupe. They will be performing at least one more show before closing up shop. This is gritty, passionate New York theater at its most real. Don’t miss it. 

And it should be mentioned that Punchdrunk, who started this all with “Sleep No More,” is presenting their latest concoction at the The Shed in Hudson Yards. Its called “Viola’s Room” and it's much more of a chamber piece than the sprawling “Sleep No More.” Instead of masks, you wear headphones (and take off your shoes) while listening to actress Helen Bonham Carter’s dulcet voice narrate a teenage girl’s gothic fairy tale.  

Imagine the Duffy Brothers adapting a Grimm’s Fairy tale and setting it in the 1990’s. That the sort of vibe this hour-long immersive fable delivers. While much shorter than “Sleep No More,” the sights, sounds and textures of “Viola’s Room” are just as haunting. It stayed in my memory longer than I expected—don’t be surprised if the run at The Shed similarly lingers. 

Viola’s Room runs through November 16, “Masquerade” continues through February, 2026. 

Tune in next week for another episode of All The World’s a Stage.