Punchdrunk’s Viola’s Room is Set to Debut on the US Stage

The Shed in New York City and Punchdrunk proudly announce the North American premiere of Viola’s Room, the critically acclaimed immersive experience conceived and directed by Punchdrunk founder Felix Barrett. Narrated by award-winning actor Helena Bonham Carter, Viola’s Room invites audience members into an intimate, audio-driven adventure. This production marks Punchdrunk’s highly anticipated return to New York City following their groundbreaking, long-running Sleep No More. The experience begins on 17 June at The Shed (545 West 30th Street) and runs until 19 October.

Founded in 2000 by Felix Barrett, Punchdrunk has pioneered a game- changing form of theatre which places the audience at the very heart of the action. Recently listed amongst the 50 most influential artists of the last 50 years (Sky Arts, 2022) alongside Bowie, Sir Steve McQueen and Vivienne Westwood, Punchdrunk disrupts the theatrical norm, creating worlds in which audiences can rediscover the childlike excitement of exploring the unknown.

Its iconic “mask” shows, which redefined the genre of immersive experiences, have been cited amongst the 40 creative moments that changed culture (Creative Review), and have found phenomenal success across the globe, with record-breaking productions established in the US, UK and China. Sleep No More in New York played to sell out audiences for 14 years from 2011, and in Shanghai the show has been running since 2016, making it the longest running show in the city’s history. The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable broke the National Theatre’s box office records when it went on sale in 2013.

Punchdrunk’s 2022 London production, The Burnt City, became the company’s longest-running show in its home city, coinciding with the opening of its first permanent venue at 1 Cartridge Place in Woolwich.

In 2024, Viola’s Room debuted in Woolwich, marking a bold shift from Punchdrunk’s signature mask performances. This intimate, barefoot sensory experience distilled two decades of the company’s immersive expertise, using binaural sound to create a deeply personal journey.

“Viola’s Room is Punchdrunk’s first new production in New York since their smash hit Sleep No More boldly changed what theater can be and how we interact with it,” said Alex Poots, The Shed’s artistic director. “Having collaborated with Felix Barrett for nearly two decades on several projects, it’s an honor to work with such a visionary talent again and to now co-produce and premiere Viola’s Room—a mesmerizing, wondrous experience—at The Shed.”

Written by Booker Prize–shortlisted author Daisy Johnson, Viola’s Room reimagines Barry Pain’s 1901 gothic short story “The Moon-Slave” for a modern audience. The production, with its combination of visual art, storytelling, and audience interaction, delivers a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“Ever since we opened Sleep No More back in 2011, New York has been our second home, so I’m elated that Viola’s Room will have its international premiere at The Shed this year,” said Felix Barrett, Punchdrunk’s founder and artistic director. “It’s the most intimate and distilled form of a Punchdrunk experience we’ve created: an invitation to step inside a teenage daydream and surrender to the unknown. In a non-stop world of screens and tech this is an invitation to succumb to a live, tactile and fully sensory journey. I’m so excited that New York audiences will soon be able to immerse themselves within the labyrinth of Viola’s Room.”

Audience members walk barefoot through the maze-like installation in The Shed’s Level 4 Gallery, in groups of up to six people. Each audience member receives headphones to be guided by the enchanting voice of an unseen narrator, voiced by Helena Bonham Carter, on a surreal, 50- minute sensory journey.

“The Shed was designed for the future of art making, embracing flexibility and scale to offer both intimate and monumental experiences with interdisciplinarity at its core,” said Meredith “Max” Hodges, The Shed’s CEO. “We’ve seen audiences crave the immersive and inventive, as with the art carnival Luna Luna, Tomás Saraceno’s aerial installation, and Ryuichi Sakamoto in Tin Drum’s mixed-reality concert Kagami. Punchdrunk’sViola’s Room perfectly embodies this, offering an enchanting experience that blurs the lines between audience and art. It’s exactly the kind of production The Shed is built to deliver.”

THE CREATIVE TEAM 

Viola’s Room is conceived, directed, and designed by Punchdrunk’s artistic director Felix Barrett,
with co-direction by associate director Hector Harkness (One Night, Long Ago; The Third Day) and
design by Casey Jay Andrews, who was part of the design team on The Burnt City.
Working with Punchdrunk for the first time are lighting designer Simon Wilkinson (Disney’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Vanishing Point’s Metamorphosis) and
sound designer Gareth Fry (Complicité’s The Encounter; V&A’s David Bowie Is, Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser, and Diva exhibitions).

Tickets for Viola’s Room go on sale on April 17 (Shed member presale begins on April 9, Mastercard presale begins April 15). For tickets and additional information about the production and memberships for presale access, visit www.theshed.org.

Main image:  Audience Member  in "Viola's Room." Photo by Julian Abrams .