On My Bookshelf: Creating Worlds, How to Make Immersive Theatre

Creating Worlds: How to Make Immersive Theatre by Jason Warren.

This month I have been reading '“Creating Worlds: How to Make Immersive Theatre” by Jason Warren, who is a director, dramaturg, and theatre-maker with years of experience in immersive performance.

You might be familiar with immersive theatre if you’re a fan of the works by Punchdrunk or Darkfield. While there are no concrete definitions for the genre it might be easier to describe what it isn’t.

There is no traditional stage for actors – instead the “play” may take place across an entire house, building or refitted plane interior. There is no typical seating for the audience, instead they are usually free to roam around and choose the rooms they enter. The experience may also evolve over time and space, and the audience may not even see everything that is happening.

This book is a practical guide for anyone creating immersive theatre and explores the importance of space, audience agency, and design. It offers frameworks and real-world examples to help practitioners understand how to craft meaningful, interactive experiences.

As a Narrative Designer for mixed reality, I was really interested in how these techniques could be applied to mixed reality experiences given that both are essentially spatial experiences.

Here are some of my key takeaways:

• You can design spaces that evoke emotion

• Some simple but thoughtful techniques include placement of furniture and props as well as lighting.

• People create their own meaning out of spaces.

• People can be guided in specific directions through “push and pull pull” methods.

• The importance of prototyping and observing participant behaviour.

• What precedes and follows certain spaces (either by moments of action, environment or physical artefacts) can change the meaning or perception of a space.

The last point was so salient for me that I’m going to write about this in more detail depth next month!

I thoroughly recommend this book which is available on Amazon.