Chinese audience’s novel approach to immersive theatre – mob tactics and mini stampedes
Punchdrunk theatre company’s Sleep No More, based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth and staged in a five-storey Shanghai hotel, is not for the faint-hearted
I went to see British theatre company Punchdrunk’s award-winning play Sleep No More fully prepared.
I wore sneakers to the immersive theatre piece, directed by Maxine Doyle and Felix Barrett, which takes place in the five-storey McKinnon Hotel in Shanghai. And I reread Shakespeare’s Macbeth, on which the play is loosely based, so that, even if I got lost in the maze that is the performance venue, I would not be totally in the dark.
What I did not expect was the mini stampedes.
Audience members were let inside the hotel at different time slots. Upon entry we were given a mask and told to stay silent. We were also encouraged to experience the play by ourselves – which increases the chances of having a one-on-one interaction with the performers.
Those who came in a group were sent to different floors. This might have worked in New York and London, where the show had been staged previously, but not in Shanghai. Audience members in the Chinese city managed to reunite with their friends. And when they held hands and moved around together, they effectively blocked the main corridor and staircase of the venue.
Whenever I tried to trail a character, going up and down the staircase, I ended up getting lost in the mob. The crowd that ran after the character Macbeth was so big I gave up trying to get close.