(going to wait a few minutes before posting this on twitter - GO!!!!)
last week, i had an experience that i REALLY LOVED.
i went into a huge 4-story schoolhouse that was filled with art, actors, story and confusion.
to call it a "play" would do it a disservice. to call it an "art installation" isn't quite right either.
whatever it is, it's theater, but it is not an ordinary piece of theater by a LONG SHOT.
what i know: a london company called PunchDrunk was invited over to Boston by the American Repertory Theater to create a site-specific piece.
they took over this huge unused old school building (must be at least 40 rooms) in brookline and made a show called "Sleep No More".
link to the show:
http://www.americanrepertorytheater.org/events/show/sleep-no-moreimagine "the shining" meets "macbeth" meets "twin peaks".
here are some stills:
you don't sit and watch actors. you wander around the space, alone (and wearing a mask) and you create your own experience.
actors come and go, events unfold. you can follow actors if you wish (they generally ignore you, but they will make contact occasionally),
or you can sit alone in a beautiful room filled with christmas trees until someone walks by you.
you can discover rooms nobody else is in and rifle through dusty papers and books.
there are rooms in asylums filled with bathtubs. there are fully landscaped gardens, there are rooms filled with dirt.
there is full nudity. there are lots of tuxedos and ballgowns. there is insanity. there is sexiness.
there is murder. there are moments where everyone winds up together and moments where you can watch the most intimate scenes play out between characters.
it's a totally choose-your-own adventure kind of theater, my favorite kind, done so well that you feel like you're living in a perfectly constructed nightmare/dream from 1929 for a few hours.
in short: it's AMAZING and EVERYTHING I LOVE ABOUT THEATER. it's completely beautiful, crazed, sad, ballsy, challenging and real.
here's a link to a slideshow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOmQjrCD0_Mwithin the show, there is a david-lynch-like bar called "the maderley" that serves as a sort of escape-hatch/middle-ground where you can
go get drinks, sit down, eat food, and watch a retro jazz band (with singers in evening gowns and HAIR! the HAIR!) from 1929 play standards.
i loved the show so much that i asked the ART if i could grab a discount for fans and do a flash-gig in their bar.
they said yes.
so here we go:
this sunday, oct 18th, i am inviting y'all to come experience this show with me, and then we'll hang in the bar afterwards and i'll play piano
(and maybe do some jazz tunes with the house band, who knows).
there are ONLY 100 discounted tickets on hold for us (the audience is limited to 300).
the discounted tickets are $28.50 (it's $5 off the regular price, but hey, you get a free amanda palmer show too)
and you need to enter the discount code "amanda" when you purchase them.
the tickets are up HERE:
http://www.americanrepertorytheater.org/events/show/sleep-no-morethe show starts at 7 pm, and you can also buy tickets to enter at 7:20 and 7:40 (it's a staggered entrance into the same space).
it's in brookline a few blocks from the brookline village stop of the green line.
all ages. cash bar.
if you want to dine beforehand, there's a cute italian restaurant down the street called "la morra" i'd recommend.
you MUST have tickets to the show to enter the manderley bar, where i'll be playing.
i'll be on at around 10 or so, and play for a while. the bar has to shut down at 12 midnight.
i'll see you there, i hope.
bring your finest 1929 clothes and a WIDE OPEN MIND.
if you can't make the special show sunday, GO ANOTHER NIGHT!!! the show is running until january!!!!
love & art -
amanda
