Sleep No More

[ladysprite]

Okay - so now I've seen the unique, bizarre, somewhat controversial show that everyone I know has been talking about for the past year or so, and have had some time to form my own opinions of it. So, what did I think?

I thought it was pretty darn awesome.

It wasn't world-changing or traumatizing or mind-blowing, but it was intriguing, and fascinating, and enthralling. I don't know if it's right to say that I enjoyed it; it's not precisely fun in the same way that going to see 'Beauty And The Beast' or 'Hairspray' would be, but it was an experience that I'm glad I had, and that I would absolutely do again.

I went into this, if not informed, at least warned. I knew to wear comfortable shoes, and that I'd be poking around a spooky setting with potentially disturbing and upsetting content; I'm glad for that. It let me get into the right frame of mind to enjoy the suspense and scariness, rather than dreading it. Also, while I have issues with gore and violence, it's more the graphic nature and the enjoyment of pain that bother me; while this was definitely dark and violent, there was no gratuitous joy in the pain of others, and the spooky-haunted-creepy atmosphere just added to the immersion.

Everything about the show was incredibly well-done. I'm glad that I had also been advised to poke around, explore, touch, and investigate every element of the set, because there were so many tiny, delicious details that I would have missed otherwise. I spent nearly the first hour just exploring the hotel, clinging to umbran like a barnacle while dragging him hither and yon around spooky hospital rooms and mazelike forests and taxidermy shops and studies. (Okay, I spent more than my fair share of time in the spooky hospital; I am who I am, and the detail there was fabulous.)

We didn't wind up following any of the actors until nearly halfway through, mostly because at first it was like watching a game of herdball - as soon as an actor moved by, dozens of attendees would swarm after them, making it impossible to actually see what was going on. But once the acting scenes started in earnest, we managed to see several of them, often up close - which delighted the heck out of me, mostly because my wicked and tricky friends had utterly failed to inform me that this show was at least half dance.

Amazing, glorious, acrobatic, beautiful, spooky dance. Half modern, half contact improv. Feet on the ceiling, spinning and rolling and falling into each other and so perfect that it took most of my willpower to stay silent and self-contained. I'll be honest, the dance is what made the show for me.

That said, even when they weren't dancing, the body language of the actors was amazing. The dreamy, almost-slow-motion actions at some points, the transitions from trapped in their own world to interacting with each other and the audience, the power of the emoting given that there was almost no speech.... I would give anything for the chance to even try taking on a role like that. I know I'm nowhere near their league, but just trying would be so amazing.....

Captivating, creepy set. Acting and dancing, and a style that makes me part of the story, if only as a time-disjointed observer from another dimension. Spooky motifs that I still am puzzling at days later. I'm not sure I understand the whole show, or that I ever will.... but it was good.