Sleep No More and the Discourses of Shakespeare Performance

This Element focuses on Sleep No More, the iconic immersive theatre production of Macbeth produced by the British company Punchdrunk. Sleep No More and the Discourses of Shakespeare Performance frames this Shakespeare adaptation as part of a system of ghostly citationality through which audiences understand the significance of the past in performance today. Moreover, despite its seemingly analog format, Sleep No More is discussed as a valuable site for media research. And the concept of 'uncanny spectatorship' is introduced to describe audience practice in Sleep No More and other performance contexts. Ultimately, this Element offers readers the opportunity to explore a set of concepts that are significant to the study of Shakespeare in performance and to consider the ways in which audiences interact with bodies, spaces, text, and media in Sleep No More and other immersive experiences.

List of contents

1. Introduction: adaptation, remediation, and ghosts; 2. What is sleep no more ... ?; 3. The illegibility of immersive theatre; 4. Making meaning with the audiences of immersive theatre; 5. Sleep no more and its prehistory; 6. Ghosts and ghosting in sleep no more; 7. Unpacking the 'Problem' of adaptation; 8. Gamification and sleep no more; 9. The cinematic imaginary and the secret sixth floor; 10. Performance and / as remediation; 11. Criticisms and counternarratives; 12. Conclusion; Bibliography.

Summary

This Element focuses on Sleep No More, theatre adaptation of Macbeth produced by the British company Punchdrunk. It frames the Shakespeare adaptation as part of a system of ghostly citationality through which audiences understand the significance of the past in performances today.

Foreword

This Element shows the theatre adaptation Sleep No More, Shakespeare Performance as a tool for understanding our embodied, mediatized world.

Product details

• Authors: D. J. Hopkins, D. J. (San Diego State University) Hopkins, Hopkins D. J.
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 29.02.2024
• EAN: 9781009436892
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0943689-2
• No. of pages: 110
• Series: Elements in Shakespeare Performance
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Virtual Reality, Media Studies, LITERARY CRITICISM / Drama, Digital lifestyle, Theatre Studies, Performance Art, Media studies: internet, digital media and society, Literary studies: plays & playwrights, Shakespeare Studies & Criticism, Literary studies: plays and playwrights, Relating to Shakespeare / Shakespearean