Sleep No More

[Ishtvan]

I did a search and didn't see anyone posting about this before. Sleep No More is a theatrical... experience that is very much like playing Thief in real life! I have to be very vague to avoid giving away spoilers, but imagine a real life location with over 5 floors and 100 rooms of Noir/medieval aesthetic, where you're free to move around as you please, follow characters around and watch any of many simultaneous scenes playing out (it's not quite Thief because they don't beat you to death if they see you). It loops a few times so you can see different things that were happening simultaneously, but you'll never see it all or figure out the entire plot the first time you go. Now add to the mix: readables, searching through desks and chests (you can touch and interact with everything), finding special items and using them somewhere to trigger an event, unexpected one-on-one interactions with characters including being sent on missions by them, speakeasies, detectives, black magic, and freaking SECRET PASSAGES! So much like Thief in real life!

 

If anyone is in a city where this is playing (currently in NYC, has been in SF and maybe London), I would highly recommend it! It costs nearly $100, but it was worth every penny! I didn't go for a while, because I didn't think it could possibly be as good as people were describing, but it was! I went in, wandered around for a minute and then was like "holy shit, READABLES!" Real life doesn't pause when you read them, though. So I'm glad TDM prepares you for that. I also used the trick of bringing over a lit candle to explore a dimly lit room. So badass! My only complaint is that it's too easy to lose someone when following them down a stairwell, but hey, that's real life for you.

[Ishtvan]

Oh, also there are times when you pick up something and are examining it, then a character comes in the room and you're thinking, "oh crap, put it back before they notice that it's gone!" In practice though, they have these very subtle "helpers" on the sidelines who try to make sure you don't screw up scripted sequences too much. It would suck if Macbeth was unable to kill Duncan because you blocked the chamber door with a crate.

[demagogue]

Sounds pretty cool to me.

I've read about LARPs before, and this sounds like a very well organized one, and of course having it in a building with readables and props and things going on in different rooms helps.

Are the audience people voyeurs or participants, or is that another thing you don't want to spoil?

[Ishtvan]

The audience is mostly voyeurs. The audience wears Commedia Dell'arte masks, and talking is forbidden, but occasionally you become participants, as the actors are free to bend/break those rules. I'm not entirely sure how it works, but it seems like the actors choose participants based on who's paying attention and willing to interact, but maybe anyone can also find/do things that trigger certain events independent of that. It's put on by this British group called Punchdrunk, and also an American group called Emursive. I really want to go back now. Damn them for adding so much replay value!!

 

Here is the link to the NYC version: http://sleepnomorenyc.com/

 

Sounds pretty cool to me.

I've read about LARPs before, and this sounds like a very well organized one, and of course having it in a building with readables and props and things going on in different rooms helps.

Are the audience people voyeurs or participants, or is that another thing you don't want to spoil?

[demagogue]

While the topic is up, it probably should be said that a game could be constructed like this. It reminds me of the game Rematch & the movie Source Code, and after being inspired by those I scripted a few ideas myself (The Witness being my best idea; you're investigating a guy's memory from his dying brain to find his murderer). Like you have a looping scripted sequence, but as you interact with NPCs & things it opens up different branches which give you further hints to open up further branches, and each round you get a little further into the story until you crack it and arrive at the climax. I mean, that's one way you'd make a game out of it. (You don't have to spoil about where this group goes with it though; I'd like to see for myself). I'd love to do this in person too, of course & I hope I can someday; but it's just such a clever idea some games could take advantage of it too.

[Glyph Seeker]

Since it is my SPECIALIST SUBJECT, I just want to say that "Sleep No More" is a wonderful title taken from an excellent collection of short ghost / weird fiction from 1948 by a well regarded railway historian, LTC Rolt...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTC_Rolt#Bibliography

 

And that experience sounds absolutely excellent.

[Ishtvan]

Well played. I think it is also in Macbeth, "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep." A collection of weird fiction from a railway historian sounds pretty awesome. Hopefully we learn the horrific origin of "Boxcar Joe."

[simplen00b]

And also the title of a rather excellent album/song from early '80's gloom-rock merchants, The Comsat Angels:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX-PCmjroY0

But yeah, Shakespeare got there first, methinks...