Sleep No More (2011 play)

Sleep No More was the New York City production of an immersive theatre work created by the British theatre company Punchdrunk. It was based primarily on William Shakespeare's Macbeth, with additional inspiration taken from noir films (especially those of Alfred Hitchcock) and the 1697 Paisley witch trials. Its title comes from Macbeth:

Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more.
Macbeth does murder sleep'

— Act II, Scene II, Lines 36–7

After incarnations in London in 2003 and Brookline, Massachusetts in 2009, Sleep No More was launched in New York City in collaboration with Emursive and began performances on March 7, 2011. The production won the 2011 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience and won Punchdrunk special citations at the 2011 Obie Awards for design and choreography.

Sleep No More adapted the story of Macbeth, deprived of nearly all spoken dialogue and set primarily in a dimly-lit, 1930s-era establishment called the McKittrick Hotel. Audience members moved throughout the performance space and interacted with props at their own pace; however, the actions of audience members were generally ignored by the performers and did not impact the story.

In November 2023, Emursive announced a final performance date of January 28, 2024, but the production was subsequently extended throughout 2024. In October 2024, a final performance date was announced along with a trio of farewell parties entitled APPARITIONS. The final show took place on January 5, 2025.