Cawdor here. This was sent with the request that the submitter not be named. It’s so perfectly worded and so right that I’m more than happy to post it.
I’d like to weigh in on this ‘SNM end date’ ‘was the original cast better’ question, to say this: Do you remember the magic you felt when you saw Sleep No More for the first time? How it took you in, how it affected you? Do you remember the first performer who looked you in the eye or pulled you into a locked room and got inside your mind without even trying? Every night, there are new people having that first experience. There are new people who walk out with stars in their eyes, with no idea what happened to them, and an irresistible desire to go again. And again. And again.
This show is not just meant to serve the loyal fans who have been with it from the beginning. It is also meant for those people still being pulled into it’s magic, and for the record? Most first timers who walk out of there DO think the end date is firm. They see ‘September 7th’ and they think, ‘Oh god, I must tell everyone I know RIGHT NOW’, and so it sells out every night. If Sleep No More can keep running and can keep giving people that magical first experience, let it. It’s inspiring and valuable, and it’s value doesn’t lessen at all by sticking around. If anything, I think it’s extraordinary that it’s gotten to reach as many people as it has -
…and wanting it to end sooner just so you can have the thrill of a last show and feel like you are part of something rare (which you are anyway - this won’t last forever) - is selfish. You’d be robbing other people of their experience.
Sleep No More has also turned into something much bigger than itself. The McKittrick staffs huge amounts of people, pulls in a ton of talent, and a ton of enthusiastic fans. It’s become a self-sustaining creative community, and one that I wouldn’t trade for the world.
In regards to the cast, it’s natural to be biased to the first people you saw. But that doesn’t lessen the value of the current company. They are dedicated, they are talented, they are learning and growing, their experience changes every night just like yours does.
Just because this has run for as long as it has doesn’t mean it will run forever. It won’t. Regardless of how long it continues, you are still a part of something unique. Don’t wish it away sooner than it has to go, because you won’t be able to get it back. Don’t take it for granted.
Because man, person asking this question - I wish you’d had my night at Green Man/Sleep No More last Friday. If you’d seen the show I saw, had the night I had, and wandered the city til the sun rose hand in hand with beautiful friends appreciating the fleeting magic of what you all get to be a part of - you wouldn’t be asking these questions.
Perfect. This has the added feature of making me HIGHLY regret skipping Green Man even more, which I already did after hearing about, and reading and talking to everyone who went.
The idea that Punchdrunk likes really ephemeral things is valid, of course. And SNM is uncharted territory. But in a few years, it will be gone. Forever. The space will be reconfigured or possibly leased by someone else altogether, and SNM will likely never, ever exist again. And we will still know we were a tiny part of something unique, something beautiful, something that can, has and continues to touch the very soul of some who pass through those bloodied halls.
I will never regret my time there, and I will think on it as ephemeral when it it over, whenever that may come. That building, those people…they have, and continue to inspire me on a regular basis.
I’m not done with the hotel, and the hotel isn’t done with me. And we both know it.
