I am BACK ON MY BULLSHIT talking to a former cast member of SLEEP NO MORE - I am delighted to welcome the great Tori Sparks to the podcast this week.

I first saw Tori perform in the Boston production of Sleep No More, which is the show that sparked my interest in immersive theater and, in my opinion, was the big bang for what we call “immersive theater” in the U.S. If you’re a person who follows that art form it’s hard not to notice that Tori has been possibly the most significant performer in that space, especially on the East Coast. In addition to her work with Punchdrunk she’s done amazing work with Third Rail Productions on a number of their shows (which we get into), she was one of the people who helped build Life & Trust (Emursive’s attempt to follow up Sleep No More with another big sprawling show that you could lost in), she worked on Kelly Bartnik’s HERE, one-off Punchdrunk shows at MIT, and was the "immersive specialist" on MASQUERADE, the new promenade version of Phantom of the Opera that’s running in New York. She’s everywhere, and I think the reason why is that she’s one of the most gifted and intuitive performers in that space. Her Lady Macbeth in Sleep No More is up there with the greatest performances I’ve seen anybody do in any medium - I genuinely consider her one of the best immersive theater performers in the world. We get into all of that - there is a lot to cover and this could have easily been a three hour conversation because Tori has done so much - as well as the Sleep No More episode of Gossip Girl, her work in horticulture and our shared background in DIY punk scene and how that world informs her work.

Find out more about Tori and the amazing things she is doing and has done and will do at her website: Tori Sparks

You can email me at [email protected]

Theme music by Mister Michael Brousseau

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