3rd year extended essay

Joshua Hampton CC3 Extended Essay StudentID: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 wearheadphones 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.

21
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/stage/theatre/article3818602.ece

22
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