CMU School of Drama


Friday, January 25, 2013

Interactive theatre: five rules of play from an audience perspective

Culture professionals network | Guardian Professional: Interactive theatre is not a new genre, but its popularity has exploded. Tricky to define but characterised by an active, physical relationship between audience and production, it often incorporates a site-specific venue around which the audience is free to roam. Shunt, arguably the daddy of this genre, has inspired countless other companies, all wrestling for space on the fringe.

11 comments:

Akiva said...

I've been very interested in interactive theatre for a few years ever since I saw Willful at OSF. Because this type of show is in its infancy it is a little hard to find ideas about it. Also because these shows do not get put on nearly as much as more traditional shows I don't get the chance to see them as often.

So this article has been really fun to read. A lot of my questions about interactive theatre were brought up and many concepts I had never considered as well.

The article makes it clear that one of the most important rules of interactive theatre is that the audience feel a consistency though out the show. I think that this one rule does a good job of summarizing all the other rules. The point of interactive theatre is to put the audience not just the actors in to world and let things play out. So if the world isn't consistent the audience will never full go in to the world your trying to give them.

I hope that in the coming weeks there will be more posts about interactive theatre on the blog.

Camille Rohrlich said...

Unlike Akiva, I had never given much thought to interactive theater and don't think I've ever been to a performance of the sort. To me, the words "interactive theater" first evoke something really exciting, a feeling quickly overwhelmed by the thought of the complexity of such a performance. I guess the key to a good piece would be faith in the audience's ability to play along; they came to the show after all, they want to have a good experience! Still, I wish I could be part of the audience for an interactive performance since to this day, I am still quite skeptical about its success, simply because I don't trust audiences to truly be a part of the experience.

jgutierrez said...

I think the only thing I've experienced that maybe started to get close to interactive theatre was our production of Antigone this year. I liked the idea of being completely immersed in a story's setting from the moment I entered the building. I think the rule that stuck out to me the most was the last one about consistency. I think it's safe to say this rule applies to not only interactive theatre but traditional shows as well. This new form, to me, is an extension of what we've already done - holding a mirror to society. Except this time, society gets to experience it, which is why agreed with his ideas on keeping the audience engaged in what they are going through, whether it be an internal awakening or a thoughtful storyline.

Cat Meyendorff said...

I think that the point the writer made about interactive theatre needing to be rigid rather than loose, as a lot of people may believe, is an important one, and the idea that theatre still needs rules is also something to think about. In an traditional theatre space where a play is performed onstage, the audience comes in kind of knowing what to expect, and so the rules can be a little softer. The general rules of the space have already been established: here is where the audience sits, there is where the actors will perform, we should all sit quietly and watch. There is already a level of comfort for the audience in knowing these rules, and so they may be more inclined to accept a lack of rules (lack of consistency, for example) seen on the stage. Interactive theatre, however, doesn't have the same set of established rules. In many cases, the performance space is the same as the audience space, and so in order for the audience to be invested in the interaction, the rules this article mentioned should be there. The point of interactive theatre may be to make people uncomfortable or force them out of their confort zone in a way, but without some kind of rule, it can be very difficult to get the audience to interact in a way that they need to.

Unknown said...

I never considered that there were this many show that interact with audiences. I had never really heard of interactive media until coming to cmu and even then I still don't feellike that I that interested in it. Interactive theatre does however have interesting concepts. As I was reading the rule the article gave I couldn' t help but think that these rules don't just aply to interactive theatre but instead theatre as a whole. Even tradition theatre must try and engross their audience with an atmosphere to convince them what they are watching is real, and the five rules given do just that. Sure hiring as many actors as audience members is not a realist thing when it comes to finances but, real life stories are not offen told with two, or three people. Stories often involve groups of people, and even then their connections to other people can extend stories to even larger amounts of people. All in all theatre should create a world that allows people to believe the story being told whether or not it is interative or not.

Unknown said...

Interactive theatre is one of those things that I have always wanted to experience but never have had a chance to. The point I really appreciated that the article made was about the set and location. It's easy to take an empty warehouse and build sets to create an environment to stage the piece in, but this can still have a fake "set" feeling to it. I agree with the article when it says the best set is not a set, but a real location, slightly edited. A real location adds authenticity to the pice, and as Akiva points out, helps achieve consistency throughout the show. A real location makes the suspension of disbelief much easier for the audience.

Ariel Beach-Westmoreland said...

One interactive theater piece I saw this summer in New York didn't reward the audience. The setting was a bar in the 30's with a serious of events and plot lines that occurred through out the evening. You were told to speak with the performers and encouraged to ask for information, yet if you did you didn't end up getting much from it.

Consistency is important, but so is the reward. Sleep No More does a great job of rewarding those who attempt to connect with the performers.

DPSwag said...

I think the one problem that causes interactive theatre to be more ineffective than people would hope is assuming that the audience will react in a certain way. When that happens, you don't consider alternatives to getting the audience back on track and experiencing the show the way you want them to. You'd also have to debrief them in a clever way throughout the show so they still feel comfortable enough to understand and take the piece for what it is.

K G said...

I love interactive theatre!
I know I am of a differing mindset on that than some, but I think audiences interacting with their surroundings can be a wonderful and fulfilling experience for everyone involved. Yes, it does need rules. There are going to be things with it that still can't be done. Like in any type of performance, you teach your audience how to behave. So you've got to set it up for them. If the conventions of it are clear, then it can be a good experience for everyone.

Unknown said...

Like Camille, I never thought about interactive theatre until I started Susan's class at the beginning of the year. She taught us about Bricolage in Pittsburgh and about one of their shows "STRATA." I was intrigued by it, and this article was very helpful in showing me how to make a successful production. I still have not seen an interactive show, so it is still hard for me to grasp, but the tips given helped me understand what current companies are doing wrong. Even so, these tips can be applied to other styles of theatre. I can see all of these rules apply to a proscenium theatre. This article has definitely helped me, and I can't wait to use them in future pre-design projects.

Chante Adams said...

I have never given much thought to interactive theatre either but i think it is such an amazing idea. We are in a new day and age where we cant keep seeing the same type of shows all the time. I saw Fuerza Bruta in NYC about a year and a half ago and it was one of the best experiences i've ever had. Interactive theatre is very risky but if its done correctly i think it can be so powerful.