3rd year extended essay

Joshua Hampton CC3 Extended Essay Student ID: 11046224

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How does Immersive theatre stretch and blur the

boundaries of what might be considered theatre through its

use of visual sensory stimulated experience and technology

Joshua Hampton

Jane Turner

This Essay is submitted in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for BA (hons) Contemporary Theatre and

Performance, Department of Contemporary Arts,

Manchester Metropolitan University.

Critical Contexts 3

816Z2301

26/02/2014

I declare that this is my own work and that I have followed

the code of academic good conduct and have sought, where

necessary, advice and guidance in the proper presentation of

my work.

Signed and dated.

...................................................................................................


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How does Immersive theatre stretch and blur the boundaries of what might be considered

theatre through its use of visual sensory stimulated experience and technology

The term Immersive Theatre is 'increasingly applied to suggest a 'genre' of theatre'

(Machon, 2013: 21). Josephine Machon explains that an audiences' senses are all engaged

and manipulated in an alternative medium, calling this the 'act of immersion' (Machon,

2013: 22). She believes the immersive experience in theatre is this, teamed with a 'deep

involvement in the activity within that medium’ (ibid.). I will argue how immersive theatre

beaks the traditional boundaries of theatre by heightening sensory engagement for

audiences through use of visual and technology. The essay will be broken up into two

sections, the first will focus on sensory stimulated experiences in performances, such as in

Punchdrunk theatre company productions. Felix Barrett, the founder and artistic director of

Punchdrunk, explains that their work is 'exemplary of immersive practice in both epic and

intimate forms' (Barrett in Machon, 2013: 3). Further, 'the company has pioneered a form of

immersive theatre in which roaming audiences experience intimately epic storytelling inside

sensory theatrical worlds' (ibid.). I will argue how their work creates a greater immersive

experience than that of cognitive immersion through Visual elements within their

performance text, to create depth, and the use of Scenography. I will use Anna Fenemore to

discuss the enrolment that audiences feel within the performance via immersion.

In the second part of the essay I will explore the use of technology and how Intermediality

contributes to immersive environments. Intermediality focuses on the relationship between

mediums. I will explore this through the use of gaming, virtual reality and sound in

performances. Companies I will refer to include Il Pixel Rosso, Blast Theory, Proto-Type and

Fuel theatre.


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Throughout the essay I will mainly use Machon, Gareth White, Rosemary Klich & Edward

Scheer, making reference to others. I will ultimately argue against Gareth White’s proposal

that ‘Immersive theatre can only achieve what other forms of performance can achieve’

(White, 2012: 11). I will conclude my essay with the question of whether immersive theatre

breaks the boundaries of theatre, collecting my thoughts based on the exploration of the

above.

It is hard to say what a viewer of immersive work should be referred to as: either a

spectator or an audience member. An audience member might be part of a 'group of people

who have come to watch but more importantly to hear in a space that equates to an

auditorium' (Oddey and White, 2009: 12) and a spectator might be seen as 'an onlooker,

wholly related to viewing and observation' (ibid). However, 'the new definition of

spectatorship is interactivity' (Oddey and White, 2009: 13) which steps away from the

traditional passive audience member. Due to this, for the purpose of this essay, I think it is

appropriate to call immersive theatre viewers Spectators as opposed to audience members.

In theatre, audience members become immersed in a reality that is not their own. Rosmary

Klich & Edward Scheer explain this as 'Cognitive Immersion' stating that it encourages

'experiences, with the spectators projecting themselves into imagined worlds' (Klich and

Scheer, 2012: 129). Generally, this notion can be detected in all theatre performance. Being

able to Cognitively Immerse a spectator relies on the idea of a spectator's ‘suspension of

disbelief’ during a performance (Klich and Scheer, 2012: 128). Within immersive theatre

pieces, the spectators are placed within the action. Barrett, from the immersive theatre

company Punchdrunk, states that spectators are 'physically involved with the piece and

therefore it becomes visceral' (Barrett in Machon, 2011: 89). However allowing a spectator


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freedom to move around does not automatically mean it is 'immersive' theatre. Gareth

White says 'The implication of the term ‘immersive theatre’ is that it has a special capacity

to create this kind of deep involvement' (White, 2012: 4). This might suggest that being able

to give spectators deeper involvement creates more of an immersive experience.

Visual Sensory Immersion

Through the attention to detail in the set and props within Punchdrunk's work, the

spectators are aided in their immersive experience in the presented reality. Being able to

present a world which is highly detailed allows the spectator to become more than

cognitively immersed. Machon quotes Truman, who would say that as a spectator, 'You are

part of it, rather than looking on fundamentally distinct' (Trueman in Machon, 2013: 72).

The multiple sets and props are used alongside the performance text and allows the

spectators to exist within a space where familiar items and a version of reality surrounds

them (Appendix 1).

Punchdrunk have said that they use signifiers 'to give the audience more clues' (Doyle in

Machon, 2011: 90). They go on to say how these clues are 'visceral and emotional; [they]

don't really give them any intellectual clues' (Doyle in Machon, 2011: 90). The main use for

them is to help lead the spectators around the space and towards action and convey a

meaning. Mark Fortier states that semiotics 'is the study of signs - those objects by which

humans communicate meaning: words, images, behaviour, arrangements,' such as the set

and props in Punchdrunk's work, 'in which a meaning or idea is relayed by a corresponding

manifestation we can perceive' (Fortier, 2002: 19). He goes on to explain that through 'the

Signifier, which is the material phenomenon [,] we are able to perceive' whereas it is the


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Signified that 'is the concept invoked by the signifier' (Fortier, 2002: 20). Through this

reading of the set props it aids in the audience’s belief in the performance world.

The many intricate props in Punchdrunk's work could be seen as signs, both Signified and

Signifiers. Alison Oddey and Christine White talk about how the 'spectator wants to engage

in a more active way, to play a significant part or role in the reception of the work' (Oddey

and White, 2009: 9). By giving the spectator these clues it allows for them to be read in way

that is open to interpretation.

These clues help feed into the performance text as well as creating a greater immersive

experience. Text offered within immersive performance can become more than just the

spoken word. Performance text is found within the sets and props rather just being

delivered to the audience by the performer in some way. Spectators have to be active to

find their own way through the piece and performance text. This technique is used to

immerse the spectators beyond a cognitive level, and to make the world designed more

believable to the audience. Gareth White would argue that immersive theatre worlds are

‘cleverly structured interiors’ however these structured environments ‘have no strong claim

to creating either fictional or imaginative interiors in any way’ (White, 2012: 234). I would

argue that performance text held within these environments does create a fictional world to

an extent as it is still a performance space.

Machon explains that 'presence of text is often explored via non-verbal means' (Machon,

2011: 97). Further, text might not be offered by the actor but in 'other elements within the

production' (ibid). The interiors might seem more realistic due to the contribution of these

elements to the performance text of the piece (Appendix 2). Mountford mentions in her

review that the performance space is ‘designed with microscopic attention to every detail’


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(Mountford, 2014: Online) in Punchdrunk’s latest show (The Drowned Man: A Hollywood

Fable). In terms of reading a performance, this makes the ‘possibilities for discovery […]

endless' (Gilmour, 2013: Online) because there are countless intricacies being presented to

the spectator at all times.

The engagement of the spectator's senses might help enhance their immersion beyond a

cognitive level. Immersive theatre engages spectators on a phenomenological level, this can

enhance their experience. Phenomenological 'approaches are based in a paradigm of

personal knowledge and subjectivity, and emphasise the importance of personal

perspective and interpretation' (Lester, 1999: Online). Immersive work is not necessarily a

play with one sense 'but rather a play within the realm of senses combined' (Machon, 2013:

75). By activating all senses it allows the spectator to be physically immersed in an alternate

reality.

Scenography can contribute to sensory immersion. It is used to enhance immersive

performance to help create worlds which have depth to them. It is effective to use in order

to let all elements of performance work in harmony, it 'denotes the integrated work on all

elements of a production' (Allain and Harvie, 2006: 203). Punchdrunk Theatre Company

want to create 'parallel theatrical universes within which audiences forget that they're an

audience' (Barrett in Machon, 2013: 159). For this they use sets, lights and sound which all

work together create the Mise en Scene. Barrett sees how multiple elements within a

performance need to work together, stating that 'each one needs to be as strong as the

other; otherwise it becomes weak' (Barrett in Machon, 2013: 95). This interplay is necessary

in order to enhance the spectators’ sensory engagement. Machon explains that 'however

flamboyant or minimal it may be, design is key to experience of the space and to the other


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worldliness created' (Machon, 2013: 95). According to the Evening Standard, on The

Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable, the audience should 'abandon all preconceptions of what

theatre should be and prepare [themselves] for a multi-storey treat' (Mountford, 2014:

Online). Within all Immersive work, Scenographic experiences help place an audience in the

world of the performance. However it is questionable whether this engagement is, or stays,

at a Cognitive level where the world presented is connected but the audience are

disconnected.

Spectators have to become part of the Scenographical world of the work to allow the

parallel world to exist. Within Scenography, as all elements of a performance have to work

together, spectators are relied on to embrace their role within the Mise en Scene. Failure to

do so could both lessen their immersive experience and ultimately bring down immersive

performance. The spectator's place in the performance is crucial; they are another element

that is key within immersive work. In Punchdrunk's Sleep No More, spectators are asked to

wear a mask. Felix Barrett felt this 'removed that sense of trepidation, whatever baggage

you're bringing in, it's neutralized' (Barrett in Machon, 2011: 90). It gives the feeling of

freedom because you become anonymous, encouraging 'liberation, can imply an invitation

to role play and ensure the audience adds an organic scenographic dimension within the

work' (Machon, 2013: 3). This idea of role play can allow a spectator to then become more

active within their physical and mental engagement with the work.

When I was a spectator in The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable, another one of

Punchdrunk’s performances where they get the audience to wear mask, it became liberating

with a sense of freedom the mask gave you. I found myself wandering around the set and

looking through cabinets and draws to seek for clues, almost intrusively. It felt like I was


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crossing a barrier between myself, as the spectator, and the piece as I had the freedom to

alter and explore the set as I wished. At the time I remember having a thrill with what I was

doing as I became actively engaged as well as a role player within the performance. The use

of the masks in Sleep No More and in The Drowned Man is just one method within

Punchdrunk's Immersive theatre performances that allows the audience to be explicitly

given a role, or encouraged to role play within a performance. This is due to the fact that the

spectators are made to look the same; their facial expressions blank so that there is no

distraction from the work around them. Not to mention the sensation of wearing such a

mask strengthens your feeling of separation from others while on your own path through

the piece. Within any immersive performance there tends to be contact of some kind,

verbally or physically between the spectators and performers, which basically gives

'audience-participants permission to behave in an active and sentient manner within these

worlds, in a way that more conventional theatre productions ... do not' (Machon, 2013:

100). This pushes your active engagement within the performance frame further, as well as

keeping to a sense of rules which you must abide by.

With audience members becoming part of the Scenography it transcends their role from a

singularly observational audience to having a much more engaged role as a spectator in the

alternate world created. Felix Barrett describes what this engaged role enables a usually

'passive, hidden audience' to do, stating they are now 'part of the scenography and

sometimes actually create walls to frame the action' (Barrett in Machon, 2013: 161). With

spectators framing the work it allows for a more intimate environment to be part of. The

spectators are what Lavender refers to as the ‘Mise en Sensibilite’ (Lavender, 2014:

Unpublished presentation) and they become an integral part of the Scenography of the


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performance. The Mise en Scene brings together all elements within a performance to be

viewed in a more traditional manner, in contrast 'Mise en Sensibilite' might be considered

achieving this alongside the spectator being inside the performance as well. Lavender

explained that through the use of intermediality audiences become a player within the

work, I will go on to explain more about intermediality in the technology section. However

what is interesting is how spectator's role is changed from a passive to a more engaged one

and the impact that has with their immersive experiences.

Anna Fenemore, in her article The Pleasure of Objectification: A spectator's Guide, she talks

about how performances blur the boundaries of the visual experience for spectators.

Fenemore gives a brief oversight of her own work with the company Pigeon Theatre and

what they try to achieve:

'The work of Pigeon Theatre (among others) explores the experience of the

spectating body in space, where space contextualizes (and in so doing, objectifies) the body, but where those spectating bodies can also transform space as they move

and as they see' (Fenemore, 2010: 5).

The work of Pigeon theatre achieves this exploration of audience experiences by

engagement with immersive concepts. One of the performances that does this is The Heist

Academy. The performance is 'set in & around a large wooden box; it explores the generic

paradigms of the Heist movie through a vast multi-media project' (Pigeon Theatre, 2014:

Online). Spectators are sat inside and outside of the box during the performance and

individual experience differs because the piece combines 'strategies of immersive and

intimate live performance with interactive filmic strategies through a number of

simultaneous 'shows'' (Fenemore, 2010: 6). These shows include the use of multimedia,

dance and performances and more which might be seen as creating an interdisciplinary

performance. This performance brings the passive audience who are watching from the


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outside of the box and the arguably more engaged audience who are situated inside the

box. Matt Trueman explained that to make a piece of immersive theatre is to make 'a piece

of theatre experienced from within rather than as an outside observer' (Trueman in

Machon, 2013: 72). This kind of performance could be seen as creating a performance that

achieves the 'Mise en Senisblite' experience for one half the audience while the other is

having a more Mise en Scene experience. The audiences outside the box

'are witness to a unique spectatorial position, one in which it is only possible to map out at best just half the outside space and rarely any of the inner space' (Fenemore,

2010: 10).

However the audiences within the box are 'object as well as subject, therefore, seem to be

remarkably pleasurable, and require, or are encouraged by, proximity and spatial

immediacy' (Fenemore, 2010: 10). This then means audiences within the box have to

become more engaged to make better sense of the performance that they have been

placed inside. This engagement creates a great intimacy for the spectators inside the box.

Technology

The use of multiple technologies are a major factor in intermedial performances, it

contributes to the creation of highly immersive environments for the spectators.

'Looking to define intermediality, our starting point is that a significant feature of

contemporary theatre is the incorporation of digital technology into theatre practice, and the presence of other media within theatre productions' (Chapple and Kattenbelt, 2006: 11).

Intermediality has gained popularity due to the cultural evolution of multimedia that

surrounds us in everyday life. In a lecture given by Robin Nelson he discussed how our

cultural environment has been impacted by the use of new media. Mary Anne Moser would

also agree with this idea of Nelson's saying 'that the assimilation of technology into


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everyday life has become unremarkable' (Moser, 1996: xvii). Intermediality is a term which

is not only commonly (today) used in terms of the Arts, as it effects our culture more

broadly through the media and the rise of technology (Nelson, 2014: Unpublished

presentation). Within the world today it becomes hard to state where society sits within this

highly digital world. Arguably, our world is becoming more digital than real; money is traded

online with no physical transaction, we use chat rooms for social interactions, again with no

physical contact. We have become immersed into a digital world where our life has become

intermedial.

Audiences today have started to want more out of theatre performances, to become more

involved or immersed within the work in the same way people's lives have become

increasingly consumed by media culture and the desire to interact with what they are being

entertained by. Richard Gough expanded by saying that 'our experiences are of a different

register partly because they are increasingly facilitated by ever-expanding computational

technologies’ (Gough, 2006: 92). To allow this to happen it is important that theatre

companies engage with intermedial-styled performance as it emphasises relationships

between mediums in general. Intermediality techniques tend to impact our senses, Machon

explains that 'technology seeks to foreground the sensuous matter of the human body'

(Machon, 2013: 36). These performances seek to highlight our engagement with reality and

media, Machon further states that 'immersive technologies which seek to heighten sensual

experience include, haptic technologies, holography, surround-sound and head-mounted

display or audio features' (Machon, 2013: 36). Many of the performances I reference in this

essay use these technologies. The interplay and the relationship between these elements

are important when considering intermediality.


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The immersive experience offered by Gaming is interesting to explore when considering

what it is to be, and how one can become, immersed within computer games. Further, the

immersive element to computer gaming can be comparable to the immersive element and

nature of a performance. In digital media: being immersed can 'generally as pertaining to

digital technology or images that deeply involve one's senses [...] create an altered mental

state' (Machon, 2013: 59). For example Blizzard Entertainment’s World of War Craft game

can be seen as offering this experience because World of War Craft is a 'MMORPG or

massively multiplayer online role-playing game' (Nardi, 2010: 17). You are joined in your

'role-playing games with hundreds, thousands, or millions of players ' (ibid.). In a world

which has its own economy system, races, rules and vast amount of exploration available to

the player. This is all set in a 'Tolkien-inspired fantasy world with Dungeons-and-Dragons-

inspired rules' (Smith, 2007: 176). This world allows a gamer (or player) to become

immersed, giving the feel that they are part of a community of real people (other players), in

an alternate-reality (i.e. the world of the game). Nard explains how he felt when entering

the world and how he 'had woken up inside an animated fairy tale. [He] was not just

watching and listening though; [he] played a starring role' (Nard, 2007: 8). I would link this

kind of immersive experience to performances by, for example, Blast Theory, especially their

performances of their piece Uncle Roy all around you.

Through the use of game and technology within Blast Theory's work, their pieces can be

seen as intermedial. Blast Theory's Uncle Roy all around you is described on their website as

a 'game in which online and street players collaborate to find [him] before being invited to

make a commitment to a stranger' (Blast Theory, 2014: Online). They achieve this by using

multiple technologies within their performances such as PDF, webcams and computer chat


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rooms which link two spectators together as they are kept in constant contact and

dependant on each other throughout the piece. The whole concept is based around the idea

of a game which is played out across a city. The concept is the idea that the setting holds the

opportunity for the unfamiliar to flourish, 'where the disjointed and the disrupted are

constantly threatening to overwhelm us. It is also a zone of possibility; new encounters'

(ibid.). Blast Theory, on their website, refer to the piece as a 'game', saying that it

'investigates some of the social changes brought about by ubiquitous mobile devices,

persistent access to a network and location aware technologies' (ibid.). This performance

relates back to the technological impact on our culture and the idea of a broader

intermediality, outside of the arts. It comments on society's immersive engagement with

technology by presenting a performance centred around the idea of interactivity with and

through a game.

A form of technology that might be used in a piece of theatre to create intermedial

performances is Virtual reality (VR), which ‘creates computer generated worlds or

immersive environments which people can explore and in many cases, interact with' (Virtual

Reality Blog, 2009: Online). VR tends to play with the sensory engagement of our bodies

through the technology. Dixon offers us a understanding of what VR does in performance

settings:

‘VR offers the performance arts an ideal technological medium with which to enhance fundamental elements core to the theatrical experience: visual spectacle, imaginary world and transformative spaces, and most significantly of all audience immersion’ (Dixon, 2006: 23).

The enhancing of these elements within performances can arguably enrich the audience’s

immersion. Michael Rush explains that with VR, the 'passive aspect of watching a screen is


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replaced by total immersion into world whose reality exists contemporaneously with one's

own' (Rush, 1999: 208). I wonder whether this level of engagement surpasses a cognitively

immersive experience for a spectator. Klich and Scheer explain that 'cognitive immersion is

reaching its artistic potential in the field of computer-generated virtual reality' (Klich and

Scheer, 2012: 129), suggesting its potential to surpass this level of immersion.

A performance company that use VR within their performances is Il Pixel Rosso. We can use

their pieces to explore whether VR can create a greater sense of immersion beyond a

cognitive level. Within their performances Il Pixel Rosso use technology in order to

stimulate the audience in a sensory way through, referring to Machon earlier in this essay,

'the interplay of audio, video and haptic technologies in the live experience,’ (Machon,

2013: 61) which is then, ‘activated within a visceral rather than virtual world' (ibid.). In their

performances of And The Birds Fell From the sky they aim to 'push the boundaries between

reality and virtual worlds' (Il Pixel Rosso, 2014: Online) . The fact that the audience can

interact 'with actual props' (Machon, 2013: 61) directly 'accentuates sensual involvement

and plays games with visceral-virtual perception' (ibid.). Placing the spectator in this kind of

space leaves them betwixt and between the real world and the performative world. The

methods they use are 'techniques similar to rubber hand illusion and multi sensory

stimulation' (Il Pixel Rosso, 2014: Online). A particular moment of the performance is where,

via the video goggles, you see a bird's leg seemingly being handed to you, when you remove

your video goggles you see you have actually been handed three pieces of paper tied

together in a shape resembling the bird leg you saw. The use of the VR offered the audience

visual engagement by taking something mundane or simple and transforming it’s meaning

through the use of technology, i.e. via the head goggles. However it's interesting to look at


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whether the failing to wholly immerse an audience increases or decreases their overall

immersion experience.

In performances that use VR as a form or technique to immerse the audience, the space

between the real and the virtual reality is not always clear. It is arguably important that we

keep a certain level of disconnectedness mentally, as spectators, between these realities.

Klich and Scheer explain how the use of VR allows the spectators' 'entire sensory system to

facilitate transportation into the simulated environment, the immersion is still located in the

mind' (Klich and Scheer, 2012: 129). Our mind is immersed within the text of the work

however the body may not be. When I watched Il Pixel Rosso And The Birds Fell From the

sky I remember when wearing the goggles that it created a world that seemed to trick me

visually, however my body stayed in the real world. It transported me mentally rather than

physically. Robin Nelson explained how there is need for this divide of two minds or

thoughts because it can allow the audience to understand their place within the media of

the show (Nelson, 2014, unpublished presentation). I would link this to Machon theory of

(Syn)aesthetics.

(Syn)aesthetics explores the spectators body and the way receives and interrupt stimulus

given to them within immersive performances. It can attempt to explain the way spectators

become immersed. Machon explains that (Syn)aesthetics involves a 'sensation in one part of

the body resulting from a stimulus applied to, or perceived by, another part’ (Machon, 2011:

13). It can be seen as creating this sensory involvement which uses the 'potential of spoken

language to effect on physical level. Its visceral impact is emphasized by the immediacy of

the live experience’ (Machon, 2011: 8). Most importantly it entails 'a connection of body


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and mind within experience' (Machon, 2009: 14). (Syn)aesthetics is a way of understanding

how the spectator's body and mind can be played with and be immersed.

Through the use of sound, the audience become immersed in a reality that engages with the

spectators' 'headspace'. Headspace, the term as defined by Peter Petralia, is 'the type of

sight you have when your eyes are closed, where the world seems to be inside you'

(Petralia, 2010: 97). Performance companies such as Fuel use headphones to create a piece

that exists in this headspace. They believe they have ‘clear, direct and playful relationships

with their audiences’ (Fuel, 2013: Online). This relationship between the audience and the

piece via technology is shown within their performances, for example Ring.

‘Ring is a sound journey in complete darkness and an antidote to choice. The

audience wear headphones that amplify the intimate details of the room, transporting you to another room that is very similar to the one that you entered.

But in this room you have been recognised’ (Fuel, 2013, Online).

By directing the spectators' attention by focusing on the sense of hearing it 'serves to

accentuate embodied perception by heightening [this] holistic sensory awareness' (Machon,

2013: 81). Through the use of sound/audio alone, with the audience's vision being restricted

and the other senses not important, the audience are engaged in an intimate and intense

way, ultimately creating an immersive sensation. Petralia talks within his essay about other

performances such as Headspace by Prototype which engages with headspace, he explains

'that these works might shift the location of performance into third space of the head'

(Petralia, 2010: 108). These performances allow the spectator to place the site of the

intermedial performance in their own headspace.


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Conclusion

I feel that performances offering spectators the best immersive experiences are ones that

engage with the post-dramatic, or come from a more real-life angle as opposed to creating

fictional worlds. Within the two sections of my essay I have explored how the spectators are

immersed beyond that of a cognitive level. However I feel that only performances that use

the sense of the real give a greater level of immersion for the spectators.

Post-dramatic elements in a performance engage spectators immersively because the idea

that the world they present is very "real" maintains its believability. The use of post-

dramatic theatre enables an audience a greater sensory immersive experience rather than

cognitive one. The notion Post-dramatic comes from Hans-Thies Lehmann. Post-dramatic

performance:

'dislodged some of the key constituents of drama, such as: mimesis of dramatic action and the enactment of a dramatic fable, the centrality of spoken dialogue, and the exclusion of the real in favour of representation of a fictional world' (Gough, 2006: 95).

Gareth White sees that ‘to be immersed is to be surrounded, enveloped, and potentially

annihilated, but it also is to be separate from that which immerses’ (White, 2012: 228).

Assimilating the performance is crucial, however the fact that the spectator is always aware

that they are in a performative space is important, which is sometimes questioned in these

kinds of performances. Post-dramatic theatre has the 'potential to immerse the audience

sensually, not in an artificial world, but within the immediate, real space of the

performance' (Klich and Scheer, 2012: 131). However both cognitive and sensory immersion

can be seen as 'two potential forms of audience immersion in both virtual realities and

multimedia performance' (Klich and Scheer, 2012: 131). So both can be seen as creating an


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immersive experience where it enriches the spectators engagement with the performance

to some degree.

In Jane Turner's article Diegetic Theatre as a ‘Place’ for the Theatricalised Spectator, she

talks about how second person narrative is used to immersive the spectator. Turner

discusses how a form of contemporary theatre 'engages with narration as a theatrical

strategy and has the effect of producing a diegetic as opposed to mimetic theatrical event'

(Turner, 2011: 24). These theatre events can be seen as engaging in a more direct manner

with the spectator. The performance Whisper by Prototype is one of the main examples she

refers to for achieving this diegetic form. She states that:

‘they embrace different creative strategies and do not seek to set themselves in a

position that is oppositional to normative dramatic theatre, especially in relation to generation, use and status of theatrical text, but do employ a range of writings that

derive from non-dramatic contexts’ (Turner, 2011: 31).

Rather than immersing the spectator in an alternate reality these performances focus on the

reality of the non-fictional setting, preferring to work combining dramatic and non-dramatic

based theatre forms and techniques in order to create theatre that is somewhere between

real and fictional. Thus performances that use post-dramatic elements can 'provoke us to

consider our intersubjectivity, our place within shared stories, and shared lives' (Turner,

2013: 41).

In conclusion I feel that the types of immersive theatre I have explored can achieve a greater

level of immersion than that of a cognitively immersive piece of theatre. As well as being

performances which successfully blur and stretch the boundaries of what we might consider

theatre in doing so.


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However these experiences tend to differ due to the range of performances styles created

under the term immersive. Where I would agree that Punchdrunk does create this stronger

experience in their work, I think it is only achieved at certain particularly interactive

moments between the elements during the performance. For example when you are

surrounded by the action: in a room/place you are intrigued by, and around actors who

acknowledge you in some way, or choose to share some dialogue that only you and a

handful of others can hear. I would say that moments where one feels immersed in this

way, when the spectator interacts with theatre elements through scenography, occur in

fleeting moments. It is when the spectator becomes part of the '‘Mise en Sensibilite’

(Lavender, 2014: Unpublished presentation). This is achieved within brief moments, that

both stumble upon the spectator and that the spectator stumbles on, where the rest of time

you find yourself searching for these immersive moments.

With the use of technology these moments of immersion can be achieved. However, again, I

would argue that these moments are only achieved within sections of the performances. For

example in the mentioned performance by Il Pixel Rosso you are immersed in the

technology when your view through the goggles is generated through technology. In using

these techniques they do achieve immersion by placing the spectator in an alternate reality.

Nevertheless the immersion fails due to its reliance on the spectators' ‘suspension of

disbelief’ (Klich and Scheer, 2012:128). I feel that to achieve a performance with a

immersive experience throughout it has to engage through the spectator's own

narrative/reality. This is done by the use of post-dramatic by ensuring that the spectator is

part of the ‘Mise en Sensibilite’ (Lavender, 2014: Unpublished presentation) of the

performance.


20

Word Count: 5,140

Appendix

1) From The Financial Times: 'The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable, Temple Studios,

London' on July 19, 2013 6:56pm By Alexander Gilmour (Online) Accessed 23/02/2014.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6b462b54-ef9b-11e2-a237-

00144feabdc0.html#axzz2ZbGbFqe4

2) From ‘The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable at Temple Studios, W2’ on July 18 2013,

12:01am by Dominic Maxwell (Online) Accessed 24/02/2014.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6b462b54-ef9b-11e2-a237-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2ZbGbFqe4



21

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/stage/theatre/article3818602.ece

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/stage/theatre/article3818602.ece


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