Punchdrunk Announces Asian Premiere with SLEEP NO MORE in Shanghai
By: Marianka Swain Jul. 13, 2016
Punchdrunk have today announced a brand new production of their award-winning theatrical experience, SLEEP NO MORE, premiering in Shanghai this year. In December 2016, the doors will open to the "McKinnon Hotel" in the city's Jing'an District, ushering audiences into this visceral, tactile and darkly cinematic telling of Shakespeare's classic tragedy, Macbeth.
Housed in a vast, five-storey disused building, the "McKinnon Hotel" (sister hotel to New York's "McKittrick Hotel") SLEEP NO MORE embodies Punchdrunk's founding idea that theatre audiences do not have to be spectators but are encouraged to break the rules, move freely through 90 different rooms, explore the world of this epic story and create their own, unique journey.
In the first co-production between Punchdrunk International and Chinese partners SMG Live, the original creative team behind the enormously successful theatrical phenomenon will bring the intimate and glorious world of SLEEP NO MORE to a new international audience. This incarnation of one of their most beloved and thrilling worlds will uphold Punchdrunk's signature immaculate production values and intricate detail from the current New York production whilst promising new surprises unique to the Shanghai production.
Artistic Director Felix Barrett said: "Punchdrunk's SLEEP NO MORE first caught the imaginations of an intrepid band of supporters in London back in 2003, when it ran for just 12 performances supported by a tiny Arts Council England grant. Since taking up residency in the "McKittrick Hotel" in New York, the international reaction to the production has been overwhelming and we're thrilled to have this wonderful opportunity to premiere our work in Asia for the first time. A project like this is a large undertaking and working with the dedicated team at SMG has been a hugely rewarding cultural exchange, we can't wait to continue this remarkable adventure with the artists and audiences of Shanghai."
The creative team for Punchdrunk's SLEEP NO MORE is Felix Barrett (Co-Direction, Co-Design and Lighting), Maxine Doyle (Co-Direction and Choreography), Livi Vaughan and Beatrice Minns (Co-Design), Stephen Dobbie (Sound Design), David Israel Reynoso (Costume Design) and Colin Nightingale (Creative Producer).
SLEEP NO MORE will be performed by an international company, including many long-term Punchdrunk collaborators alongside a host of some of the most exciting and innovative performers China has to offer.
Punchdrunk's SLEEP NO MORE is Shakespeare's Macbeth, reimagined as a 1930's film-thriller in an epic experimental theatrical experience. Following productions in London (2003) and Boston (2009, in co-production with American Repertory Theater) Punchdrunk's SLEEP NO MORE opened in March 2011 at the "McKittrick Hotel", New York in its current form (produced by Emursive). The production has won a Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience and a Special Citation For Design And Choreography at the Obie Awards.
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