What is Immersive Theater?
In recent years Broadway productions such as the revival of Cabaret and Here Lies Love in addition to Off-Broadway productions like Punchdrunk's Sleep No More have revitalized a widespread curiosity and craving for immersive theater in New York City. So where does it come from and what characterizes a theatrical experience as immersive?
Although the concept of inviting audience members to take part in the world of a theatrical experience as more than passive spectators may seem, in some ways, revolutionary to modern day audiences, it is actually something that has been passed down through centuries of theatrical traditions. According to Playbill, the roots of immersive theater date all the way back to the first known examples of theater like story circles and religious rituals. Much of today’s immersive techniques draw from practices around the world such as Noh Theatre born in Japan, Commedia Dell’Arte born in Italy, and Theatre of the Oppressed born in Brazil.
As its name suggests, the goal of immersive theater is to fully immerse audiences into the world of the production. Different theatrical productions use a manner of different techniques to achieve this goal. A few methods described by Backstage include blurring the line between audience and performer, leaving behind the stage, adding sensory elements, and shifting between the personal experience and the collective experience. Part of the joy of all theatrical productions is the give and take of energy between the audience and performers, but immersive theater takes this to another level as the audience’s participation often leads to every performance being notably different from the last. In certain productions no audience member has the same exact experience even if they all attended the same performance.
In the modern age of entertainment and technology, immersive theater is something that is still highly experience based. It is one thing to watch a story set in another time period, realm, or universe but it is an entirely different one to find yourself inside of it.