by Andrew Hoepfner | Oct, 2022 | No Proscenium: We’ve had a good year in Brooklyn performing Bottom of the Ocean. As I write this, I’m sitting by myself in our gymnasium on a Saturday morning, supervising the last half hour of a music video shoot in the back third of our venue. In a half hour, I’ll wrap the production, reset our immersive theater props in the front two-thirds of our venue, and then perform a double shift of BOTO. At 10:30pm, two late night renters will shoot two more music videos. I’ll go to sleep around 3:15am.
4 comments:
I haven’t been to many immersive theater shows, but from the little that I have experienced I really love the concept. I understand that it is certainly not for everyone; this kind of piece requires its own kind of niche audience that is opened minded and willing to “go with the flow” of things. But when it’s done well it’s quite impressive and makes for a memorable time. Getting started is a process and finding where and when to practice these skills is an odyssey, but I think it’s a worthwhile one. Theater festivals seem to be where immersive theater thrives, but I think it has the potential to grow past it if the right environment is formed. The logistics of it is something I’m interested in learning, especially because there are different sets of moving pieces than in a traditional production. Depending on the details of it there may be audience participation, which adds another layer to the difficulty of maintaining the show.
I don’t have a ton of experience when it comes to immersive theater but this article does make me want to learn more. Especially seeing that you can turn this special style of theater into a full time job. I think it’s genius to allow other filming for music videos and movies to take place in such a venue. I mean many regular theaters rent out to other people and manage to get extra funds to support there shows so what’s the difference. I’d say that the main difference is that since many of the people who are renting the immersive venue are filming much of that content will end up online. This could be a problem and could spoil some of the immersive show. I am really excited to see what immersive theater continues to morph into and I hope that someday soon I can experience an immersive theater experience myself.
It have always seems scary to me to take a job in theater as a full time job after Covid became a serious issue where people talk about. This article is definitely helpful and encouraging in motivating its reader to learn more about different sides of the industry and encourage reader to explore options and opportunities that fits their hope. While I do not have a lot of experience with immersive theater, this article makes me want to learn more about it and engage in one in the future. The placement of the videos within this article is also helpful and encouraging for people to learn more about this part of the theatrical industry and how to be a part of it. The mentioning of Covid impact is also a topic that im interested in where it have changed the theatrical industry and individual workers in the industry in a great extent.
I said it in the last article I commented on, but I love immersive theatre. For me, as weird as it can get sometimes, immersive theatre showcases the boundless creativity and innovation of the human experience. It can also be overwhelming thinking about how to make immersive theatre work, so I very much appreciate Andrew taking the time to share his journey. It was a smart idea not only to partner with the church, but to rent the space out when not in use. His point to take a look at existing resources and connections is invaluable, and it's actually advice I've heard time and again. Many of the people in our lives want to help us make art and to succeed, so it's always worth exploring those avenues.
A few years back, I worked on a friend's master's thesis in which we put on a full play in her living room. It was a lot of work and creative manipulation, but it was also one of the more fun and rewarding theatrical experiences. Another friend of mine from back in California is a musician who has a dream of purchasing an abandoned warehouse to turn into a concert and production venue for local artists. It's encouraging to see that it's not only possible for him to succeed at that dream, but that it can be a full time career.
I just think the possibilities are endless with immersive theatre and that's why I'm drawn to it. I like that it provides freedom to artists to explore outside of the confines of conventional practices.
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