The November 14 episode of Gossip Girl promises to raise the emotional stakes even higher as the gang heads to the theater. Talk about drama ... in the literal sense and otherwise!

Sleep No More, the provocative live show that contains elements of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, will be prominently featured in the episode, according to Entertainment Weekly.

“It took months to get it together,” Josh Safran says. “It was incredible to use their space, their actors ... the whole thing. We like to do a masked ball every year, and this just dials it up many notches."

The CW series' executive producer continues: "We were very much attuned to keep Sleep No More‘s secrets. At the same time, they were extremely helpful in letting us utilize stuff that they maybe normally wouldn’t. We shot there for two days - several of the rooms, different floors.”

That's awesome and all ... but what does it mean for the Gossip Girl characters?

Sleep No More, known for its dark tone and unconventional approach, serves as the perfect backdrop for the show to weave a twistier story as the fifth season nears its halfway point. Safran says:

“Unlike our previous masquerade balls, there’s blood; it’s darker. There’s Lady Macbeth, there’s Macbeth. It’s a little more twisted than usual, and that episode also holds many surprising, romantic twists."

"It’s sort of a big, sexy, blood, everything-comes-to-a-head kind of an episode.”

Having young adult characters meant a new opportunity to go to a dark place.

“They’re older. Now we can go to these dark places,” he says. “The episode is still very fun, by the way. In fact, in some ways, it’s probably even more fun than a usual masquerade ball for us because it’s all of these characters connecting and missing each other. It’s really sort of allowed us a broader range of emotions for the characters in a weird way."

"They’re dealing with adult issues. It’s sort of a big turning point episode for everybody.”

Including, he says for, Gossip Girl herself.

“I don’t mean as a person, I mean as an idea,” he clarifies. “[But] Gossip Girl becomes a part of the plot in a major way that episode. Even if you haven’t [seen Sleep No More], it’s fun if you’re just a fan of Gossip Girl because they really kind of all perfectly-matched worlds.”

Safran was tight-lipped about the baby drama to come that week, but did address this: “Another thing that’s going to happen is that the audience is not going to have to wait that much longer to discover whether Ivy can pull off playing Charlie for too long. In November, her identity will come out, but it might come out in a surprising way."

"Diana’s definitely a part of it, but she sort of sets it in motion more than causes it herself.”

Specifically, and last but not least, “like masked balls in the past, there are multiple kisses - between multiple people” in the episode. “Like, quadratic couples, I’d say,” he teases.

Could that have something to do with THE kiss we've heard about?

Discuss all these developments in the comments below!

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.