Immersive Theatre
by Savithaa Markandu
You Me Bum Bum Train
““You are cast as the lead actor in a series of interactive experiences...It’s about testing your boundaries and getting involved.””
When most people think of Immersive Theatre, there never seems to be one way to define it. Some theorists, like Adam Alston find that Immersive Theatre is so fluid and ever-changing, that its understandings evolve as practitioners experiment more and more over time.
But, what if there was a way to define Immersive Theatre? Who said it had to be one word?
Working in The Theatre: Immersive Theatre, film credits: American Theatre Wing, Majimafia
Robert Nozick, a philosopher, believes Immersive Theatre is more than just breaking the ‘fourth wall’. He describes the process of Immersive Theatre as being in an “experience machine”, a term that was coined by Nozick himself.
Artist’s rendition of the ‘experience machine’
Why such a sci-fi term?
Because Immersive Theatre acts as a machine that fuses together the nuts and bolts of theatre, such as scenography, choreography, dramaturgy etc. It encloses them “in a thematically cohesive environment that resources their sensuous, imaginative and explorative capabilities as productive and involving aspects of a theatre aesthetic” (year). This unique environment surrounds the audience and is designed to teleport them to another world. By acting as a machine, this world manufactures an extraordinary experience for the audience, and within this experience, there is a central aim to push the audience to be active in the making of the performance.
The audience plays an essential role as not only spectators but also co-producers of the performance. From the minute they step in, the audience is invited to participate as well as actively engage.
“In any theatre, audiences watch, listen, decode, cogitate, imagine, feel, hope and desire [...] these actions produce meanings among a gathered audience of individual spectators, each refashioning the performance in their own way”
Following Ranciere’s view, audience members are generally cognitive thinkers who actively engage with any form of theatre, contrary to the belief that sitting and watching a piece of theatre limits them to being simply, spectators. However, audience members do more than just watch - they comprehend and emotionally respond to a performance in ways that are unique and personal to each individual. In other words, while watching a piece of theatre, audience members actively connect with the performance.
The Vortex’s Performance Park
Immersive Theatre deepens this connection and pushes the experience further by provoking the audience to become an active member in the piece. It purposefully creates gaps in its narrative so that the audience has to fill them in by making meaningful choices. As Adam Alston suggests, the intention is to identify what produces a sense of immersion; what might challenge and question the audience into producing answers that not only build the narrative but also add value to it. In this way, the audience does not simply ‘refashion’ the performance to suit their understanding, they also reflect, exchange opinions and take action, to help shape the performance. By being active members in an immersive world, the audience completes the meaning of the performance.
Aesthetic vs aestheticised experience
“Audience immersion and participation is the root force not art objects. The difference between Aesthetic and aestheticised experience is the intensification of productive participation and the introspection produced by that intensification”
There is a common misunderstanding that aesthetic performance is established only when aesthetic objects and bodies are placed in the space. People often argue that this is the primary ingredient required to immerse an audience in an aesthetically meaningful experience.
This is where Alston steps in and completely changes your view.
“...it is not because of arts objects but rather because of the audience’s own engagement in seeking, finding, unearthing, touching, liaising, communicating, exchanging, stumbling, meandering etc etc, this leads to an intense or profound experience for the audience.””
Students from Haimo Primary School responding to the props designed for The Lost Lending Library, by Punchdrunk.
The materials, actors or objects do not constitute the aesthetic of the performance. It is the ways in which the audience identifies and deciphers meanings behind these elements, and how they connect those meanings to the performance. Each audience member activates emotional, intellectual, analytical and rational thinking. They become curious, suspicious, doubtful, hopeful etc etc while they investigate their surroundings and find pleasure in making discoveries. The arousal of these emotions inspire them to actively participate in the experience, and as they progress, they reflect on themselves and how this unique adventure has impacted them. This journey is what leads to an ‘aestheticisation’ of the experience, which in turn, adds value to an immersive experience.
Well, all of the above is only what I believe Immersive Theatre brings to an audience. If you really want to understand what an immersive experience is like, I highly recommend that you attend a piece of Immersive Theatre yourself, to get up-close and personal with the performance. Only then will you properly understand just how immersive, Immersive Theatre is.
Oh, and before you do that, have a look at the next article taking advice from theatre director, dramaturg, and practitioner, Jason Warren, on how to create your very own piece of Immersive Theatre.
By Savithaa Markandu