Immersive Encounters in New York (by Abigail Oscroft)

The Royal Holloway Travel Award gave me the opportunity to visit New York in order to see two pieces of theatre that were crucial to my study of immersive theatre. Immersive productions plunge their audience into the world of the play. The performance takes place around the audience, with spaces such as warehouses and office blocks being turned into environments that the audiences can engage with. As a participant it often feels as if you have fallen down the rabbit hole and arrived in a new world. Third Rail Projects are a Brooklyn based dance-theatre company at the forefront of immersive theatre. Although the company have been running for fifteen years they have gained notoriety in recent years due to the production of Then She Fell (named one of the Top Ten Shows of 2012 by the New York Times). Set in a hospital wing, Then She Fell is an immersive interpretation of Lewis Carroll's writings. The actors outnumber the audience, which is restricted to fifteen members per performance. More recently the company have produced The Grand Paradise, which in stark contrast invites 60 audience members to join a cast of 20 performers for a hedonistic journey in pursuit of the fountain of youth. With the two performances taking place simultaneously I was greatly interested in how the contrast in audience size might affect the immersive experience.
Viewing both pieces was engaging and thoroughly enjoyable. Then She Fell saw all fifteen members of the audience meet in the same room before being split into smaller groups to explore the space. At first, the small amount of audience members made it hard to be lost in the crowd, and unlike other immersive performances, the audience were not assigned a character. This made it hard to engage with the performance at first, as due to the lack of both character and crowd, there was (both metaphorically and literally) nothing to hide behind. Although at first this was restrictive, over time I began to find the experience liberating. As I was placed into smaller and smaller groups I became braver. Until, eventually I was comfortable sat alone with the white rabbit painting roses or at a desk taking down a letter to Alice from Lewis Carroll's dictation. The lack of an imposed character made me feel vulnerable in these situations but surprisingly bold and open to the experience. I left the performance feeling as if I had well and truly fallen down the rabbit hole.

 In The Grand Paradise the audience also start together, gathered in a large room. Cast as 'residents' at an exotic resort the audience are given flower leis and shots of a questionable liquor. We are quickly divided into smaller groups of 10-15, this is where I was selected to 'perform' in a ritual. A man and woman in bathing suits selected another audience member and myself, sitting us on a bench. They began to offer us water from a series of wooden bowls, which they continued to hold as we drank. The rest of the room looked on as my face flushed with embarrassment, something I had not felt in Then She Fell. As the performance continued the audience was broken down into smaller groups, and as it did I felt gradually more self-conscious. Although audience size did play a significant role on the audience experience, what intrigued me most was the way I responded to 'character' assigned to me. In Then She Fell I was left to be myself, at first this made me feel uncomfortable, but over time I became used to the situation and began to fling myself into situations of participation. Whereas in The Grand Paradise I was assigned a character that I felt I could not live up to. This caused me to be painfully aware of the disconnect between who I was expected to be and who I am.

Participating in these two pieces by a company at the forefront of immersive theatre afforded me a fantastic opportunity to apply a practical knowledge to my studies. The experience has broadened my understanding of immersive theatre, and my desire to investigate it further.