The McKittrick Hotel : get lost in a different reality.
I have a riddle for you: you are a guest, but this is not an actual hotel. You enter this house in our days 2015, but inside it is 1930s. You and other guests are visiting the same mansion, but your experiences will never match. What is this place? Intrigued? Then Welcome to The McKittrick Hotel.
What do you think is happening there? You will find that most critics writing reviews on The McKittrick Hotel cannot describe what it is in one sentence. It is simply impossible considering the uniqueness of this place.
Where: New York. The venue is several warehouses in Chelsea transformed into a hotel, which looks like a haunted mansion. Historically The McKittrick Hotel was supposed to be the most luxurious hotel in New Yourk of its time. The legendary hotel was completed in 1939 and locked straight away due to the outbreak of World War II. It never opened its doors to the public until now...
What: Like we mentioned, this is not an actual Hotel in its traditional understanding. The McKittrick Hotel is home to "Sleep No More", the interactive play.
Forget about traditional theatres, where the audience sits down to watch everything happening on the stage. In "Sleep No More" the stage is the whole mansion, 6 floors, elevators, rooms, bars. The play itself is a version of Shakespeare's Macbeth produced by British Theater Company called Punchdrunk. The play is interactive, you are following the actors through bedrooms, bathrooms, hospital rooms, creepy nurseries, ballrooms and even something which looks like a forest and a cemetery! The play happens everywhere simultaneously and you choose yourself where you want to be in this story and how quick you want to go through it.
Rules: The rules are simple.
1) Mask. You need to wear a mask, it is this Venetian carnival style mask which reminds also of the plague times. When all of the audience wear masks, you become invisible in a way, no one would ever recognize you. The mask also differentiates guests from actors, who are the only people in the show not wearing it.
2) Silence. You cannot utter a word during the whole experience. No, not even "it is so cool". Actors are not talking either, the whole play is silent, they communicate through the body language, dance, actions and of course a very disturbing soundtrack in the background! They do it so well, so words actually become unnecessary.
3) End of the show. The show lasts on average for 2-3 hours, you choose yourself when you want to leave the play. They say you are free to leave whenever you like. I say it is true....Just try to find the exit first...
4) Wear flat shoes. This is more of my own advise to ladies as this is not really a rule for the show. But I can guarantee that you don't want to be wearing high heels in this place. The light is minimum for the purposes of the play, so at least you want to be sure you won't land on your face moving around.
Our experience (no spoilers): Don't worry, we won't ruin it for you. Like I said before, despite that you and other guests are attending the same play in the same hotel, I can guarantee your experiences will never match. Here is why:
If you come to this show together with your friend or your other half, they will try to split you. They say it is so much better to explore the hotel one your own (well, it is more scary for sure!). There are several ways how they do it, we knew about those and yet they managed to fool us. It was fun, but I won't tell you exactly how it happened.
Befroe the play starts you will find yourself in a lounge. When you get there, you realize that you have just time travelled to 1930s! Just imagine you are attending a cocktail party at Great Gatsby's. 1930's interior, stunning ladies who came alive from pictures from the last century, old champagne glasses and the amazing host who welcomes you to the hotel. His vocabulary mostly consists of the word "Darlings" pronounced in the most charming manner. The one which makes you melt a bit inside.
And then once you have a mask and elevator takes you to where it is all happening, be a darling and enjoy the experience! Like I said, all of the experiences are different. The following may or may not happen to you: you get to dance, eat candies, be a part of the play when actors interact with you, have a drink, get lost in a maze, be totally scared in the creepy rooms, get kissed ...Or perhaps you will experience something no one else has experienced before!
After the show I encourage you to stay in the lounge for the cocktail party.
They will play those old jazz compositions and who would not want to experience 1930s style party. You can book your tickets here http://www.sleepnomore.com/#share
Enjoy the hotel and being a "Darling"!
