The phrase immersive theatre has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years, and is often applied loosely. In 2012 (‘theatre roundup: advice for playwrights’) Lyn Gardner noted that ‘immersive is theatre’s new buzzword’ and expressed irritation with its often vague and unspecific application, commenting on ‘marketeers who seem to be applying the term “immersive” to practically anything that isn’t a play by David Hare.’ A specialised vocabulary and set of critical approaches are required. This thesis is about audience immersion in the work of Punchdrunk, a pioneering company working in the form. The thesis proposes that immersive theatre (the theatrical form) and immersive experience (the sensation) have a reciprocal relationship. The thesis begins with an overview of approaches to audience in theatre scholarship and other fields, and establishes a definition of immersive experience that will be applied to case studies in the chapters. The thesis is divided into three sections that consider topics integral to Punchdrunk’s theatre: interactive elements; a fractured and nonlinear approach to narrative; and the creation of scenographically rich environments. The chapters consider the relationship between these topics and immersive experience. The thesis is interested in how immersive experience is created and maintained, and discussed and framed in wider discourse. The first section is about interactivity and immersion. Chapter 1 considers various approaches to interactivity and proposes a multivalent model. Chapter 2 applies this model to a discussion of interactivity and immersive experience in The Drowned Man. Chapter 3 widens the definition of interactivity to consider audience engagement beyond the moment of the theatrical encounter. The second section is about narrative and immersion. Chapter 4 outlines current critical approaches to narrative, and discusses immersion in the interplay of story structure and theatrical structure, using the linear The Crash of the Elysium as a case study. Following on from this, Chapter 5 considers how immersive experience is created and maintained in the context of a Punchdrunk trademark: a nonlinear structure, with scenes in non-chronological order encountered only when a wandering spectator comes across them. Chapter 6 draws on the narrative ‘vs’ ludology debate in the field of gaming; a debate concerned with what a player is actually immersed in – the story or the mechanics of play. The chapter considers immersive experience and story in the Sleep No More project Punchdrunk undertook with MIT Media Lab in 2012, which used gaming mechanics to explore ‘remote and real world interconnected theatrical immersion’. The final section is about environment and immersion. Chapter 7 outlines approaches to environment and draws on methodological approaches from site-specific performance to discuss how immersive experience manifests in the interplay between the original site and the creation of a fictional world in/on that site.

Though the cinematic genre of horror was not designated until the twentieth century, elements of this genre have appeared onstage since the time of the Greeks. Theatre history is rife with examples of theatrical ghosts and horrors, whose ever-changing representation indicates society's evolving relationship to and expectation for horror onstage. In 2019, Virginia Tech presented the installation Poe's Shadows, which combined elements of traditional theatre, original art, and innovative technology to present an immersive experience of Edgar Allan Poe's work. This production was a unique collaborative work that combined the creative labor of both faculty and students, while also invoking past horror theatre techniques and technologies. The properties of the Cube performance space allowed the Poe's Shadows creative team to imitate hand-cranked panoramas, magic lantern shows, and shadow plays, while also using sound effects and narration that combined elements of theatrical tradition and ghost shows. By studying the history of Poe's Shadows, as well as the reception of the installation, one can see how the theatre's evolving relationship with horror is effected by audience demand and expectation, as well as newly available technologies. / Master of Arts / Though the horror genre is most often associated with books and films, elements of the genre have been present onstage for thousands of years. Furthermore, studying these theatrical ghosts and ghouls—and how they were represented onstage— can help contemporary audiences understand historical anxieties and expectations. In 2019, Virginia Tech presented the installation Poe’s Shadows, which combined elements of traditional theatre, original art, and innovative technology to present an immersive experience of Edgar Allan Poe’s work. This production was a unique collaborative work that combined the creative labor of both faculty and students, while also invoking past horror theatre techniques such as hand-cranked panoramas, magic lantern shows, and shadow plays, accompanied by with sound effects and narration that combined elements of theatrical tradition and ghost shows. By studying the history of Poe’s Shadows, as well as the reception of the installation, one can see how the theatre’s evolving relationship with horror is effected by audience expectation and newly available technologies.

The topic of this master thesis is an analysis of the multimedia project GOLEM, which has carried out two following results: theatrical one (GOLEM Štvanice) and audio-visual one (GOLEM Cube). The first part is focused on the specifics of the immersive theatre phenomenon, which was introduced in the Czech theatrical milieu for the very first time, and on the production procedure within the confines of the Prague theatre stage. The second part deals with audio-visual recording of a theatre peace, which takes place in an unconventional space, and then focuses on a technical method development for all movie-making fields with great emphasis on keeping the theatrical authenticity. It also deals with the specific system of installation within the particular space. Based on this case study of an immersive theatre performance and methodical approach to its audio-visual preservation this work develops some basic requirements that should lead to the successful results of similar future projects pointing out some possible application in other fields of practice.

The suspension of disbelief is integral to the performing arts. We ask our actors to see couches made of three chairs, designers to create cities in empty spaces, and most of all; we ask audiences to believe the stories and relationships that are figurative and often abstract. This level of critical and creative engagement is assumed to develop in spaces of higher education. However, with an ever-changing world and increasing conversions and integrations of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in spaces of higher education, it has become even more apparent that students need to develop their creative and critical thinking skills earlier on in their development. By recontextualizing learning through imaginative immersive game systems, such as Dungeons & Dragons and similar tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs), I have found that students experience categories of significant learning synergistically through experiential gameplay. This immersive storytelling relies entirely on the player-performers to spend their disbelief and immerse themselves in their imagination, termed theatre of the mind. The gamification of role-play acts as a means of challenging students to activate their development of collaborative improv, storytelling/playwriting, and dramaturgy skills. Through research and play testing, I have developed a gamified drama-focused role-play educational tool utilizing many of the core gameplay mechanics in the world's most popular TTRPGs. In this thesis, I present the game structure and reflect upon my experiences implementing this work. Additionally, I explore the cross sections between game design and immersive theatre practice and consider how this intersection is utilized in gamified performance and pedagogy. Finally, I consider how a theatre-of-the-mind-based pedagogy can be utilized in subjects outside of the theatre classroom.

Den här expositionen visar mitt projekt från utbildningen Master i skådespelarkonst 2021-2023 på SKH i Stockholm. Uppsatsen heter "När vi ses" och den performativa delen "Hur gör vi med publikinsläppet?" Jag har som skådespelare och clown jobbat i många olika rum och med många olika publiköverenskommelser. Allt från scen-salong situationer där publiken vet exakt hur de ska bete sig och hur deras deltagande ser ut, till att spela för endast en person i en sjukhussäng eller i en liten roddbåt, där deltagandet tydligt måste förhandlas och kommuniceras. Jag har mött vuxna som är världsmästare i teateretikett, men inte kan svara på en fråga om den ställs från scenen, och jag har mött barn som är sjövilda förstagångsbesökare som har en intensiv dialog med oss på scenen. Jag är intresserad av dialogen mellan skådespelare och publik och av publikens delaktighet. Vilka normer och överenskommelser regleras det av? Hur påverkar rädslan att göra fel, bryta mot normen, upplevelsen av scenkonstverket? Begränsar den rädslan för skam det som är möjligt på teatern? Jag har också undrat över vilka roller publiken kan ha, vad i ett verk som kommunicerar denna roll, och om publiken kan byta roll i samma verk. I "Hur gör vi med publikinsläppet?" kan du läsa om arbetet med Eva och Margaretha, två halvmasker som båda är skådespelare men i vars konstnärsskap publiken spelar väldigt olika roller. / The essay is called "When we meet" and the performative part "How do we let the audience in?" As an actor and clown, I have worked in many different rooms and with many different audience agreements. Everything from stage-salon situations where the audience knows exactly how to behave and what their participation looks like, to playing for only one person in a hospital bed or in a small rowing boat, where participation must be clearly negotiated and communicated. I've met adults who are world masters of theater etiquette, but can't answer a question if asked from the stage, and I've met children who are wild first-timers who engage in intense dialogue with us on stage. I am interested in the dialogue between actors and audience and in audience participation. What standards and agreements are they regulated by? How does the fear of making a mistake, breaking the norm, affect the experience of the performance? Does that fear of shame limit what is possible in the theater? I have also wondered what roles the audience can have, what in a work communicates this role, and whether the audience can change roles in the same work. In "How do we let the audience in?" you can read about the work with Eva and Margaretha, two half-masks who are both actors but in whose artistry the audience plays very different roles.

The purpose of investigation was to examine whether Satan´s democracy was an adaptation of The Master and Margarita. As a theoretical frame was used adaptation theory by Laera, Hutcheon and Babbage, Loman´s model for theatre performance analysis and the praxis of immersive theatre by Punchdrunk. The investigation was conducted as a comparative analysis of written and videotaped documentation and interviews of stage managers and actors. The results show that Satan´s democracy can be regarded as an intermedial transformation by temporal adaptation of The Master and Margarita to contemporary Swedish environment. A creative reinterpretation of the message about the individual´s impotence while facing superior political power is observed in Satan´s democracy. The geography and environment were reinterpreted by reshaping of space in a huge building that served entirely as stage and by use of art and music. Some characters were kept, some were recreated, some were created without distinct model in The Master and Margarita. Satan´s democracy was conducted as a collective theatre and art process of creation in distinct steps by almost 600 people during 2015- spring 2016. The production team applied and creatively developed immersive theatre form.

Creative Project Abstract: The creative project of this thesis is a script prototype for Underland, a crime drama video game and digital playable story that demonstrates writing and design methods for negotiating narrative and player agency. The story is set in October 2006 and players are investigative psychologists given access to a secure police server and tasked with analysing evidence related to two linked murders that have resulted in the arrest of journalist Silvi Moore. The aim is to uncover what happened and why by analysing Silvi’s flat, calendar of events, emails, texts, photos, voicemail, call log, 999 call, a map of the city of Plymouth and a crime scene. It is a combination of story exploration game and digital epistolary fiction that is structured via an authored fabula and dynamic syuzhet and uses the Internal-Exploratory and Internal-Ontological interactive modes to negotiate narrative and player agency. Its use of this structure and these modes shows how playable stories are uniquely positioned to deliver self-directed and empathetic emotional immersion simultaneously. The story is told in a mixture of enacted, embedded, evoked, environmental and epistolary narrative, the combination of which contributes new knowledge on how writers can use mystery, suspense and dramatic irony in playable stories. The interactive script prototype is accessible at underlandgame.com and is a means to represent how the final game is intended to be experienced by players. Thesis Abstract: This thesis considers writing and design methods for playable stories that negotiate narrative and player agency. By approaching the topic through the lens of creative writing practice, it seeks to fill a gap in the literature related to the execution of interactive and narrative devices as a practitioner. Chapter 1 defines the key terms for understanding the field and surveys the academic and theoretical debate to identify the challenges and opportunities for writers and creators. In this it departs from the dominant vision of the future of digital playable stories as the ‘holodeck,’ a simulated reality players can enter and manipulate and that shapes around them as story protagonists. Building on narratological theory it contributes a new term—the dynamic syuzhet—to express an alternate negotiation of narrative and player agency within current technological realities. Three further terms—the authored fabula, fixed syuzhet and improvised fabula—are also contributed as means to compare and contrast the narrative structures and affordances available to writers of live, digital and live-digital hybrid work. Chapter 2 conducts a qualitative analysis of digital, live and live-digital playable stories, released 2010–2016, and combines this with insights gained from primary interviews with their writers and creators to identify the techniques at work and their implications for narrative and player agency. This analysis contributes new knowledge to writing and design approaches in four interactive modes—Internal-Ontological, Internal-Exploratory, External-Ontological and External-Exploratory—that impact on where players are positioned in the work and how the experiential narrative unfolds. Chapter 3 shows how the knowledge developed through academic research informed the creation of a new playable story, Underland; as well as how the creative practice informed the academic research. Underland provides a means to demonstrate how making players protagonists of the experience, rather than of the story, enables the coupling of self-directed and empathetic emotional immersion in a way uniquely available to digital playable stories. It further shows how this negotiation of narrative and player agency can use a combination of enacted, embedded, evoked, environmental and epistolary narrative to employ dramatic irony in a new way. These findings demonstrate ways playable stories can be written and designed to deliver the ‘traditional’ pleasure of narrative and the ‘newer’ pleasure of player agency without sacrificing either.