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Immersive experiences have become almost as ubiquitous in the UK as Cafés with Wi-Fi, or Craft Beer. Since this trend has emerged from the early work of a handful of theatre companies a decade or so ago, the majority of makers and presenters of this work today have come from the performing arts industry. The problem? Conventional actor training, which still forms most of the training available to actors in formal education in the UK, does not provide actors with an awareness of a live audience that might be invited to participate. The same goes for the existing training available to directors, choreographers and writers who want to devise new work to immerse audiences in. Might courses for actors, writers and directors consider skills in game-design, digital interfaces, conflict resolution?

The term 'immersive' is deeply problematic, as it doesn't describe the quality, craft or care necessary to create a meaningful interactive or participatory artwork. More often than not, the term is used in marketing materials to sell an 'experience' that involves a combination of site-responsive or designed installations which audiences are invited to explore, usually including some form of close proximity to performers. The supposed freedom offered to audience members, or the ability to interact directly with the fictional scenario in question, raises a number of issues. The skill and experience required by makers to design such logistics, and for performers to manage active audiences in the context of such a proposition, would benefit from more rigorous investigation and care. We must not underestimate the importance for actors to refine a nuanced performance 'tone', and how to observe and listen to audiences. It is this thoughtfulness in approach that we believe can, and must, be taught.

Those who, through years of practice, understand how problematic the term immersive can be, must take responsibility for mentoring responsible and rigorous performers and practitioners to encourage excellent artistic practice, particularly in interactive projects. Because if we don't, no one else will. We must be more than just role models for ethical and responsible practice. As practitioners, we must share our methodologies. We should clearly articulate to audiences, funders, festivals and especially to artists committed to making such work, just how time consuming, expensive and complex a process of creating extraordinary experiences for active audiences is - especially when audiences are invited to interact. What we widely understand as immersive theatre today is influenced by early productions that achieved overwhelming success with both public and critics. However, these productions did not achieve such praise for being immersive per se. Instead, the depth of experience for their audiences was a direct result of precisely how, and why, they were invited to participate in the first place.

Whilst writing new training approaches for actors in the Hotel Medea overnight trilogy (2006-2012), we stumbled upon numerous challenges. Professional actors are not trained to manage audience participation. They are trained to act. And regardless of how good they are at doing it, their skills are specific to a form of theatre which does not include intimate relationships with audience members. Therefore, when confronted with individual audience responses, actors may not possess the skills required to handle unexpected and nuanced reactions. Most of the key moments in the Hotel Medea trilogy became very problematic for actors to negotiate, as they needed to sustain their pre-defined fictional role, whilst encouraging individual audiences to role-play, both managed with a subtle performance 'tone' which would not patronize or alienate audience members. Other issues we encountered in early iterations of our work resulted from actors that were too keen to get audiences involved. Less experienced members of the cast, whilst performing fictional roles, at times tried to coerce audiences to join in, creating the opposite effect for audiences. Without the appropriate training, actors also misjudged the 'tone' of their acting whilst putting audiences to sleep at 2am. This was a delicate moment in the narrative where the maids (played by actors) were in charge of Medea's children (played by the audience). In the early iterations of the production audience members were at risk of feeling patronized by actors if their performance 'tone' was too forceful although eventually this turned out to be one of the most successful and memorable moments of the overnight trilogy.

Theatrical events that propose active exchanges with the audience are often less aligned to a literary culture and operate in a similar way to non-literary events such as sports contests or other cultural performances such as processions, parades and role-play games. For us at ZU-UK, the unspoken contract between audience and actor is at the very core of any theatrical event, whether or not it ends up being interactive. Our creative process is driven by strong ideas, whether or not they are considered 'art'. We have never set out to make an immersive event. Neither did we decide our work should be participatory or indeed interactive. However, since our inception, we have been obsessed with the role of individual audience members within the theatrical dramaturgy. This in turn led us to also question the role of the actor and the role of our chosen site in relation to the event.

We have since redefined the terms we use to describe actor (host) and audience (guest) to describe those who perform, and those who are invited to attend our events. We have also consolidated a 'Dramaturgy of Participation', articulating and disseminating different approaches we apply when making new work, including Participatory Rituals, Immersive Environments and Interactive Game-Play. Although we would all like to believe audiences are 'immersed' in our work, we rarely consider the behavior we are encouraging in audiences. For instance, are we encouraging audiences to compete with each other for intimate VIP experiences, or are inspiring them to form new temporary communities with their fellow audience members? Are they asked to stay silent, or are they challenged to take a stance? Do we invite them to consider uncomfortable ideas through humour and play, or do we sell them the most thrilling and entertaining immersive experience we possibly can? As the term 'immersive' gets appropriated by corporate events, and as 'immersive' practitioners seek business models which include large number of audience members per night, some of the most problematic ethical issues mentioned earlier risk being exacerbated. Namely the encouragement of competition between audiences and the lack of care when creating and managing audience participation.

This year we have started to pilot a series of experimental workshops at GAS Station to focus on interactive technology and intimate performance as creative tools for such investigations. We have also partnered with University of East London to launch a new MA Contemporary Performance Practices based on our research, to ensure best practice for audience participation continues to be developed and shared. Our efforts are merely one of many contributions which are urgently needed in order for a wider ecology of responsible practice to be encouraged. We hope the launch of such projects inspires our contemporaries to articulate and contribute approaches, tools and methods which can create a positive impact across Higher Education and emergent practice.

'Immersive' (whatever one means by it) has clearly entered the mainstream and changed the way we experience theatre forever, but it is more important to continue the pursuit of excellent artistic experiences whether they are tagged as immersive or not. We hope to hear from similarly minded practitioners and researchers in order to strengthen networks and contribute to a more daring yet responsible field.
Persis Jade Maravala and Jorge Lopes Ramos are the creators of ZU-UK and GAS station. For more information on their work, visit their website here.

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Immersive theatre: Towards a dramaturgy of participation - Exeunt Magazine

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Immersive experiences have become almost as ubiquitous in the UK as Cafés with Wi-Fi, or Craft Beer. Since this trend has emerged from the early work of a handful of theatre companies a decade or so ago, the majority of makers and presenters of this work today have come from the performing arts industry.

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Tribemix Virtual Reality for Dementia Care

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Jukin Media Verified (Original) * For licensing / permission to use: Contact - licensing(at)jukinmediadotcom PLEASE SHARE THIS VIDEO!!! #happyweeping Hertfordshire based organisations, Tribemix and Quantum Care, have developed a series of virtual reality experiences that take people living with dementia in care out of the residential homes and away to a range of relaxing places.

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The Japanese do it

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From a cat-human hybrid pornographic extravaganza to pretending to be a mosquito, we count down the 6 craziest games from Japan! Watch our 6 Most Anticipated Games Of 2016 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVGC5bLxjF0 Subscribe to Alltime Gaming here: http://bit.ly/1L3KT0X Join Alltime Gaming on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1W3KIKc

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Sarcastic fish simulation

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Seaman for Dreamcast - Angry Video Game Nerd

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Seaman for Dreamcast - Angry Video Game Nerd - Episode 136 The Seaman for Sega Dreamcast is one of the most bizarre video games the Nerd has ever reviewed and features the voice of Leonard Nimoy! Is it amazing or is it awful? Watch and see, man!

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One of the strangest games I've ever played if I remember correctly Terrence Trent D'arby's brother is one of the bosses

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Let's Play: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Super Story Mode Part 1

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JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken?) is a fighting game developed by Capcom based on Hirohiko Araki's Japanese manga of the same title. The games were developed by the same team who are responsible for the Street Fighter III series.

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Group Development Questions from Inception Meeting

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Group Development Questions from Inception Meeting

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CTRL, the first VR drama by Breaking Fourth, places the audience at the heart of an emotional tale of one young gamer's struggle to escape

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Coney making REMOTE

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With opening night at Camden People's Theatre steadily approaching, the REMOTE team have been working hard in the rehearsal room. For insights on REMOTE's conception, sketching and scratching the show and the inspiration behind it, check out Director Tassos Stevens' previous blog posts.

Rei Poh joined the Coney team last month, taking on the mantle of Assistant Director for REMOTE. Hailing from Singapore and on placement from the University of Melbourne where he's undertaking his MA, we're excited to have drawn him half way around the world to work on the show with us - and he's been plenty busy as REMOTE launched into rehearsals last week. But more on that from the man himself...

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After 17 hours and 10,841 km of journeying in the skies of the world from Singapore to London, I'm currently sitting in the kitchen of Artistic Director Tassos Stevens who is also the Director of REMOTE, with my gaming laptop, brainstorming the world of SALLY. I've been tasked with aiding Tassos Stevens by assisting directing, particularly in investigating the space and time in the production of REMOTE. I first came across or heard of REMOTE through Tassos when I was looking for a placement and had a friendly chat with him over Skype. He requested that I play the video game The Stanley Parable (I mean, seriously, who plays video games for work... this must be a dream!); he later revealed that he had drawn inspiration for REMOTE from this game, alongside the play Attempts on Her Life by Martin Crimp. Having played that game (YES!) and studied the play (Which I'm proposing to do for my Final Production of my Masters), I came over to London wide eyed, filled with joy and excitement for what to come. Largely expecting that we might be playing/working on something more like a video game, I did not see what was to come in reality. The level of intellectual discourse in the room is over 9000 (power gauge explodes). The reason why the project needs to have so much intellectual discussions is that we are basically creating a world within a world within a world (think Inception). Let me show you why (SPOILERS): In the performance of REMOTE, there are three worlds: the reality (you know, the one you and me live in), the fictional reality (the one you will be seeing on stage) and the fictional fiction (the story being told in another story). This is MASSIVE! Which means the team has sacrificed a lot of brain cells for this show but become super determined to produce a mind-blowing piece. Not to reveal too much, this is one of our earlier ideas of how the WWW (World in World in World) might look: In the rehearsals, I was met by a wonderful team who are willing to listen and contribute at the same time. This is crucial for a devising process and that people are not overly precious with their ideas. Tassos is definitely the leader in the process and has showed me how certain games can be used for devising. There was an exercise in particular where we sat and had to take turns dreaming the world of REMOTE, where we shared and presented our ideas like a gift to the team. It is also not without its challenge, because of its complicated world, we had to struggle (like a practicing monk, I believe it is good to be struggling when trying to "gain enlightenment"). Struggling is always good, as we pushed to have a sharing at the end of the week where we received responses that are encouraging and useful. Looking forward to the rehearsal phase where I can further investigate the space of the world in REMOTE. =)*
REMOTE will be opening at Camden People's Theatre on Tue 19 April and running until Sat 30 April. Click here for more info and to buy tickets.

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Gaming as research, worlds within worlds, and the REMOTE rehearsal process: Thoughts from Assistant Director Rei

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With opening night at Camden People's Theatre steadily approaching, the REMOTE team have been working hard in the rehearsal room. For insights on REMOTE's conception, sketching and scratching the show and the inspiration behind it, check out Director Tassos Stevens' previous blog posts.

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The Interactive Theatrical Gaming Experience

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The immersed audience: how theatre is taking its cue from video games

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A new era of theatre is borrowing conventions from video games, making invigorating performances in which the viewer becomes a player. By Thomas McMullan

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6-3 | Digging Deeper – Narrative Design and Game Mechanics

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6-3 | Digging Deeper – Narrative Design and Game Mechanics

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6-3 | Digging Deeper – Narrative Design and Game Mechanics

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REFERENCES Wikipedia: Monomyth (aka Archplot aka Hero's Journey) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth tvtropes.org: The Hero's Journey http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheHerosJourney tvtropes.org: Call to Adventure http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CallToAdventure Wikipedia: Edna and Harvey: The Breakout http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edna_%26_Harvey:_The_Breakout Official Game Site: Secret City 1 - tripventure http://www.tripventure.net/en/games/secret-city-1/ --------------- Official Channel of "The Future of Storytelling" MOOC by the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (FH Potsdam).

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Branded Entertainment & Product Placement

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The Future of Storytelling 5-1 | Storytelling in Digital Games | Intro

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REFERENCES PDF - Units 2 through 5 (Dr. Mark Butler) References / recommended literature and game video links: http://de.scribd.com/doc/237856882/The-Future-of-Storytelling-Chapter-5-Unit-2-5-References ---------------------- Official Channel of "The Future of Storytelling" MOOC by the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (FH Potsdam).

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The Future of StoryTelling (FoST) brings together leaders from the worlds of media, technology, and communications to explore how stories are changing in the...

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A brand new immersive theatre meets urban gaming experience

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A brand-new immersive adventure experience, playable from home, inspired by Royal Museums Greenwich's stored collections at The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre

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US PREMIERE!Throw yourself into the void 250 miles above Earth in this virtual-reality spacewalk inspired by NASA's training program and the astonishing experiences of its astronauts.

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Blast Theory - Games

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Become one of Our Friends Electric and receive regular emails about upcoming Blast Theory projects, news and information about our work, including ways you can get involved and support our work. Here’s how we use your data and how you can opt out.

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Muse of Fire - immersive theatre

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Pervasive Media Studio

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A collaboration with scientists, architects, and the artists' local community to design and plan the build of a functional Martian house.

A series of public interventions which use soft robotic sculptures to raise awareness of local ecological issues and the wider climate crisis.

A sound performance on choice, voice and our impending doom. In development at the Pervasive Media Studio.

Over the next 5 years Watershed is part of a programme called MyWorld which will showcase the latest advances in digital production and research.

Winter Residency 2021-22 artist Shrouk El-Attar brings together engineering and drag performance to create a belly-dancing robot.

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A collaboration with scientists, architects, and the artists' local community to design and plan the build of a functional Martian house. A series of public interventions which use soft robotic sculptures to raise awareness of local ecological issues and the wider climate crisis. A sound performance on choice, voice and our impending doom.