Theatre to Games and Back: a Speculative Study

Seamus Fox Theatre is currently undergoing a metamorphosis in order to survive the social and political landscape. In a recent article for The Guardian, Larne Bakare discusses the efficacy of theatre and its future, focusing on immersive theatre and drive in theatre. He discusses Sonya Friedman’s statement that, “Theatre is incompatible with social distancing” (cited in Bakare, 2012). Whilst this is true with regards to audience capacity of the theatres, McKenzie Wylie argues “that immersive theatre’s flexibility means it can weather the pandemic better than most traditional theatre, which is constrained by its physical location” (cited in Bakare, 2012). The Theatre as a building is in crisis; financial support is needed to maintain theatres and keep them open; however, immersive theatre is not bound by the constraints of traditional theatre. Now in a Post-Covid world, the notion of merging live theatre with remote interactive audiences, is one that should be explored as it could be beneficial in the ‘next step’ for the industry.

Immersive Theatre can survive so long as there is an audience to engage with it; it is key that after a show, it leads to discourse among the participants. Similar to Roland Barthes ideas in ‘Death of the Author’ & ‘Birth of the Reader’ and audience affect. Umberto Eco states:

A sequence of communicative effects in such a way that each individual addressee can refashion the original composition devised by the author. The Addressee is bound to enter into the interplay of stimulus and response which depends in his unique capacity for sensitive reception of the piece. (Eco, 2006, 22)

Much in the same way that Neil Druckmann approached The Last of Us franchise; there is a clear consideration of the audience and their importance to the narrative. Rosemary Kilch (2016) discusses the use of ‘Epistemic Immersion’ and a ‘typology of narrative immersion’ (Cited in Frieze, 2017, pg.224). TLOU of franchise is presented using emotional and epistemic immersion to elicit full attention from the player.

Utilising the information above begins to formulate a specific set of research questions that this project will answer, though the answers cannot be anticipated in the outset

I. What are the differences and similarities between immersive theatre and digital gaming?

II. How do audience members align with specific narrative perspectives?

III. In becoming an emancipated spectator does the audience lose accountability to others?

IV. Can you sustain audience agency using the uncanny rooted in epistemic immersion?

V. In performance, can sensory deprivation work towards a total immersion of attention in the same way a controller demands it from the player?

This is a speculative research project that shifts from theoretical to practical with the intention of yielding results that not only inform the future of immersive theatre but work towards a hybrid form of immersive theatre that is inspired by digital storytelling. This would in turn become a pedagogical approach in actor training for these specific styles of performance aimed as a benchmark for the HE Sector.

In 2016 an exhaustive report developed by The Arts Council England discovered that immersive theatre or site-specific performance is;

This kind of work requires new kinds of skills and knowledge, which often reside outside the theatre sector (e.g. within performance art or video games). Its growth, therefore, may well lie in partnerships being developed between companies with specialist expertise in this field and partner ‘hosts’, such as festivals or theatre buildings.

(Arts Council England, 2020)

There are commonalities between the two disciplines: gaming and Immersive Theatre. It is now time to explore this relationship in detail to aid in securing the future of immersive theatre.

As of 2014 Vault Festival in London has offered an opportunity for immersive performances to be held across the city, I am to start a dialogue with this festival to review the practice during the age of COVID and utilise the company as a data collection point. There is flexibility to change as the discourse on the topic evolves over the course of this research.

Throughout the project, I aim to develop and produce two performances. These will be informed by research including but not limited to, Interviews, Surveys, and practical workshops; with the aim to inform the next set of research objectives after critically analysing the process and performance itself. The first performance will aim to adapt an existing Video Game The Last of Us, underpinned by the working methodologies of immersive theatre practice and The Uncanny. This allows the project to take a successful example of game design and apply the principles of immersive theatre, by adding an immediacy that is lacking in the original due to the distance created by the controller and screen.

The final performance will then be a new original piece of writing produced for Theatre that is underpinned and influenced by both Immersive theatre practice and game design, utilising the methodology and research findings from the first project to determine its efficacy in action.

We crafted a character driven story, focusing on flawed individuals and the difficult choices that they make. As you experience it with them, we hope you’ll laugh, cry and even feel their struggle through heavy moments that are designed to be emotionally challenging. Most of all, we hope this game inspires in you the kind of philosophical debates we had while making it. (Druckmann, 2020)

Druckmann’s explanation is an inspiration and mantra for this project. There has always been a relationship between the audience and the stimulus forever growing into new ways for the audience to experience it, to become immersed in that world. Using Horror movies as an example, we like to put ourselves through the feeling of fear without actually being in danger. Now with advancements in technology, especially in games such as The Last of Us, the audience is able to lose themselves in the story and become part of it. Making the audience part of the game, allowing them to make decisions and feeling consequences for their actions, Adam Alston interrogates Affect in his book Beyond Immersive Theatre. He talks about the RAP or Rational Actors Paradigm in relation to Spinozist methodology stating: ‘As a state of in-between-ness linking both human and non-human bodies over time… thinking about affect in terms of RAP, as something impacting on human’s capacity to think, fell and act, without nullifying personal idiosyncrasies’ (Alston, 2016, pg.45) Additionally, this could be applied to other forms of storytelling and narrative such as live theatre showing commonality between digital and theatrical.

Methodologies

This project leans heavily on a Practice-Based-Research framework where the aim is to develop a praxis. Utilising a phenomenological approach via empirical evidence from audience engagement, interviews, and immersive theatre projects. Notably engaging with companies such as Blast Theory, Colab Theatre and Chronic Insanity.

Collecting empirical evidence from audience members is essential to gauge their understanding and personal engagement with the material. This will be both in the form of qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (surveys) to provide in-depth data. I am hoping that this will lead to an analytic overview of audience members and their experiences within each project. The section of the research will be orientated on audience. I aim to engage both the normal immersive theatre demographic, of 25-44 as suggested by The Arts Council England’s, Analysis of Theatre in England (2016). But also, the demographic of Gamers who primarily engage with narrative based digital games specifically within the UK (I am yet to find statistical data on this demographic, I am aiming to incorporate this into part of the initial data collection). As this research project relies heavily on audience engagement with practical performance, there is a consideration of ethical implications, notably approaching audience consent throughout the performances with a scaffolded approach. In the development of the performances, audience testing will take place and a space for the audience to debrief will be embedded in the performances.

Working with both performers and writers in this process I aim to use ethnographic journaling to provide evidence of the creative process from different perspectives within the team.

Literature Review

Matt Trueman says, “Immersive Theatre…Marks a piece of theatre experienced from within rather than as an outside observer… you are part of it, rather than looking on fundamentally distinct” (Trueman, 2012). It is within this that we start to identify the connection of Immersive Theatre and Digital Gaming. It is more about what we as the audience take away from the experience as opposed to how the experience unfolds.

KD. Ball in conversation with G. Home-Cook illustrates that in Immersive theatre or theatre that has to utilise unique spaces; ‘Often matter of production tend to take precedent over matters of perception’ (Frieze , 2017, pg132) meaning that the experiential elements of performance is sometimes not at the forefront of the production, rather the spectacle. Expanding upon Druckmann’s quote earlier, there is a clear consideration placed on the audience and their reception of the piece/narrative. Using this in conjunction with G.Home Cook’s Phenomenology of Theatrical Attending elicits further lines of enquiry; does the controller of the console TLOU is played on provide the attention needed for immersion? Similarly does sensory deprivation provide the attention needed for immersion in person?

Heussner discusses direct representation in games where the players are able to identify with elements of real life and how they are more likely to become engaged within the game world. Using TLOU as an example we are presented with familiar social dynamics and flawed characters, which offers the players authentic representation. By adding an unfamiliar element that is new to these dynamics it heightens the authenticity, “The Infected” add an uncanny element to the world that forces players to focus on what they can identify from real life, the characters and their storylines.

Edgar raises Plausibility in playwriting. ‘Does the play fit in with our knowledge of the subject or our experience of life?’ (Edgar, 2012, p.8). We have no real life examples of Zombies to draw from, therefore a play based on zombies doesn’t fit with our experience of life. However, through different forms of media, TV, Film & Gaming, we as audience members have developed schemas on the term zombie and have expectations when we are presented with them. Both plausibility and direct representation are not necessarily the property of the writer/ developer, rather the ownership lies with the audience/players. Edgar goes on to talk about genre and how the writer doesn’t get to dictate it, even if they hit specific beats and archetypes throughout the story such as Blake

Synders The Hero’s Journey it is how the audience interpret it, determines the genre.

Felix Barrett of Punchdrunk discusses their use of Mask as a methodology in creating immersive theatre, enabling the audience to become part of the scenography, and not be judged for their actions that evening (Machon, 2013, p. 161). As an audience member playing The Last of Us 1/2 (TLOU) we are given a “Mask” in the form of a controller and due to our preconceived moral & ethical compass we are therefore not judged for our actions in the narrative as we have created a distance between our choices and that of the characters. The Narrative construction of TLOU has us the audience play out the story of Ellie and Joel, their destiny is not controlled by us, it is a kernel without satellites. Chronic Insanity are a Nottingham based theatre company whose recent show All Falls Down (2023) is an interactive digital-live hybrid horror show. They champion accessible theatre for all and achieves this through interdisciplinary engagement. Dread Falls Theatre’s latest installation piece Patient 4620 (2023) is an immersive blend of auditory storytelling and installation. Dante or Die have a commitment to working local communities wherever they work from similarly to Chronic Insanity there is also a commitment to developing audiences within the communities they work. All Kinds of Limbo (2019) was developed by The National Theatre which blends VR and AR technologies allowing the audience to view the piece on a smartphone which adapts and transforms the surroundings beyond the phone into a production set.

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