Sleep No More returns to Shanghai with a special edition

Sleep No More, the immersive theater experience by Punchdrunk, unveiled a new special edition this month after eight years of immensely successful performance in Shanghai.

Since its premiere on Dec 14, 2016, at the McKinnon Hotel in Jing'an district, the Shanghai edition of Sleep No More, produced by SMG Live, has presented more than 2,200 shows, attended by 620,000 people, and achieved total revenue of more than 560 million yuan ($76.74 million).

A benchmark production of immersive theater, Sleep No More was created by Punchdrunk, a multi-award winning theater company based on Shakespeare's Macbeth told through a dark cinematic lens.

Sleep No More in New York, playing since 2011, closed in January this year, leaving Shanghai as the only edition still running, and the longest running international show in the city's history.

The experience of being up close and private with a performer is one of the most sought after things at Sleep No More, said Eric Jackson Bradley, executive director of the show's Shanghai production.

"It's an experience that makes your spine tingle, makes you come alive, makes you become excited, and sort of sets you back into the experience in a totally different way. And we wanted to try to expand that, offer it to more people," he said. "I think that's probably the biggest shift that this show has seen in almost 10 years of running."

Also, the special edition will add more details and back stories of the characters, according to Ma Chencheng executive producer of the show. It will also condense the three-loop narrative to two loops, shortening the performance time into two hours.