Reframing Immersive Theatre: The Politics and Pragmatics of Participatory Performance PDF
Preview Reframing Immersive Theatre: The Politics and Pragmatics of Participatory Performance
REFRAMING IMMERSIVE THEATRE The Politics and Pragmatics of Participatory Performance EDITED BY JAMES FRIEZE Reframing Immersive Theatre James Frieze Editor Reframing Immersive Theatre The Politics and Pragmatics of Participatory Performance Editor James Frieze Liverpool Screen School Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool, UK ISBN 978-1-137-36603-0 ISBN 978-1-137-36604-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-36604-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016957738 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or here- after developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub- lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: © non zero one Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. The registered company address is: The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW, United Kingdom N otes Thanks to Jenny McCall, Paula Kennedy, April James, and Amy Jordan at Palgrave. Adrian Howells died while this book was being written and is greatly missed. References to his practice have been left in the present tense. v C oNteNts 1 Reframing Immersive Theatre: The Politics and Pragmatics of Participatory Performance 1 James Frieze Part I Participant as Co-designer: Critical Reflections 27 2 On Being Immersed: The Pleasure of Being: Washing, Feeding, Holding 29 Josephine Machon 3 In the Body of the Beholder: Insider Dynamics and Extended Audiencing Transform Dance Spectatorship in Sleep No More 43 Julia M. Ritter 4 Troubling Bodies in Follow the North Star 63 Ruth Laurion Bowman vii viii CONTENTS 5 Experiencing Michael Mayhew’s Away in a Manger: Spectatorial Immersion in Durational Performance 77 Roberta Mock 6 Integrating Realities Through Immersive Gaming 93 Lindsay Brandon Hunter 7 Negotiating the Possible Worlds of Uninvited Guests’ Make Better Please: A Hypertextual Experience 103 Elizabeth Swift 8 Outdoors: A Rimini Protokoll Theatre-Maze 119 Esther Belvis Pons 9 Immersed in Sound: Kursk and the Phenomenology of Aural Experience 129 George Home-Cook and Kristian Derek Ball Part II Facilitating Immersive Performance: Ethics and Practicalities 135 10 Reflections on Immersion and Interaction 137 non zero one 11 Caravania!: Intimacy and Immersion for Family Audiences 145 Adam J. Ledger 12 A Dramaturgy of Participation: Participatory Rituals, Immersive Environments, and Interactive Gameplay in Hotel Medea 151 Jorge Lopes Ramos and Persis Jade Maravala CONTENTS ix 13 She Wants You to Kiss Her: Negotiating Risk in the Immersive Theatre Contract 171 Richard Talbot 14 The Fourth Wall and Other Ruins: Immersive Theatre as a Brand 193 Rachael Blyth 15 Immersive Performance and the Marketplace: The Hit 199 Sherrill Gow and Merryn Owen Part III Where Material Meets Magic: Theories, Histories, and Myths of Immersive Participation 203 16 Spectral Illusions: Ghostly Presence in Phantasmagoria Shows 207 Nele Wynants 17 Playing a Punchdrunk Game: Immersive Theatre and Videogaming 221 Rosemary Klich 18 Proximity to Violence: War, Games, Glitch 229 James R Ball III 19 The Promise of Experience: Immersive Theatre in the Experience Economy 243 Adam Alston 20 Differences in Degree or Kind? Ockham’s Razor’s Not Until We Are Lost and Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable 265 Geraldine Harris x CONTENTS 21 Coriolan/us and the Limits of ‘Immersive’ 289 Andrew Filmer 22 Participation, Ecology, Cosmos 303 Carl Lavery Bibliography 317 Index 335 N C otes oN oNtributors Adam Alston is Lecturer in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Surrey. His research explores the aesthetics and politics of audience participation, immersion and productivity in theatre and non-t heatre settings, and the histories, aesthetics, and phenomenology of complete darkness in theatre. He is the author of Beyond Immersive Theatre: Aesthetics, Politics and Productive Participation (Palgrave MacMillan, 2016), and is currently working on a collection co-edited with Martin Welton titled Theatre in the Dark: Shadow, Gloom and Blackout in Contemporary Theatre (Bloomsbury, 2017). James R. Ball III is an assistant professor in the Department of Performance Studies at Texas A&M University. Previously, he taught theatre history and perfor- mance studies at the University of Maryland, College Park and New York University (where he earned his PhD in 2012), reported on the work of the UN Security Council for securitycouncilreport.org, and directed interactive and immersive per- formances with his company, 2 Distinct Motions. Rachael Blyth has performed in and produced theatre, live art, transmedia, music videos, and films. A graduate of Central Saint Martins and the University of York, she resigned from British theatre and film company FoolishPeople in late 2012. Kristian Derek Ball is a sound artist, designs sound and composes for theatre, film and multimedia. He is a professional member of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA.org) and Artist Lecturer of Sound Art at Muhlenberg College, School of Art. www.kristianderekball.com. Ruth Laurion Bowman is a recently retired Associate Professor of Performance Studies in the Department of Communication Studies at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA. xi
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