Immersive Theatre in the Digital Age

Immersive theatre is an experimental performance form that emphasizes site, space, and design while immersing spectators in a play. Its theoretical origins can be traced back to Richard Schechner's concept of “Environmental Theatre”, introduced in 1968. Scholars such as Emi Hamana suggest that immersive theatre has likely existed since ancient times, as many forms of theatre and rituals involved audience participation by immersing them in the event. Immersive theatre has significantly altered the relationship between performers and audiences, transforming spectators from passive observers into active participants or even co-creators. The creation of space and high interactivity has endowed immersive theatre with more possibilities and excitement, making it highly popular with audiences and an essential direction for the future development of theatre. Notable productions like Sleep No More (2011) by Punchdrunk and Then She Fell (2012) by Third Rail Projects are successful and effective explorations of immersive theatre.

Josephine Machon noted in her 2013 book Immersive Theatres: Intimacy and Immediacy in Contemporary Performance that the term “immersive” is becoming an “umbrella term,” indicating it is being overused. However, digital technologies such as VR, AR, and AI are pushing theatre beyond the limitations of physical space, blurring the boundaries between live performance and digital storytelling through multisensory experiences and interactivity. This allows immersive theatre to achieve a true sense of ‘in-its-own-world’-ness, expanding its creative potential.

Based on this, this paper selects two meaningful cases, The Under Presents and Draw Me Close, to explore how digital technology is transforming immersive theatre and whether it truly enhances the immersive experience or introduces new challenges that diminish the core theatrical experience.

Both The Under Presents and Draw Me Close utilize VR technology to create immersive theatre experiences, serving as strong examples of how digital technology is applied in this field. They demonstrate how technology reshapes artistic expression and reflect the complex relationship between art, audience, and technology. Through analyzing these two cases, several key impacts of digital technology (particularly VR) on immersive theatre are highlighted:

1.  Hybrid Storytelling

Digital technology introduces new narrative possibilities to immersive theatre. VR creates a virtual or hybrid environment, offering richer, multi-layered storytelling that transcends traditional stage performance boundaries. Just like The Under Presents, a three-act play is created using non-linear narrative, where the audience participates in the story in the first person and creates a unique and personalized experience by exploring the plot on their own. Here, the audience does not need a linear narrative to help them understand the story. When a play is no longer anxious about whether it can be understood by the audience, more complex and creative narrative methods become possible.

2.  Enhanced Interactivity and Engagement

Digital technology enhances audience participation in immersive theatre. In both cases, the audience shifts from passive observers to active participants. Audiences are empowered with control over time and space, enjoying greater autonomy in shaping the story. Interaction and choices made by the audience directly influence the plot’s development, turning them into co-creators of the narrative. For instance, in The Under Presents, viewers can interact with the characters in the Timeboat sequence, choosing whether or not to help the crew escape. In Draw Me Close, participants become the main character, engaging with performers to form deep emotional connections.

Usually, in traditional theaters, since the audience gathers together in one space, it helps to form a shared experience atmosphere. When watching a play remotely, the audience is usually isolated from each other and lacks direct social interaction. But in The Under Presents, the audience is in an independent virtual world. While watching the performance in silence, they can interact with each other through gestures. Although the new way of watching performances has completely broken the concentration and sacredness of "concentrated attention" in traditional theaters, distractions such as mobile phone notifications cannot be avoided, but The Under Present ideally maintains a good sense of participation for the audience.

3.  Emotional Immersion

Digital technology creates a whole new world, and bringing the audience from reality into the virtual world helps to immerse the audience emotionally. In these two cases, the creation of the environment is so successful that it does not make people feel that it is just using new technology to attract attention. Instead, it strikes a clever balance between technology and narrative, using technology to deepen the depth of the story and enhance the emotional experience. Draw Me Close is particularly successful in this regard, as many participants report feeling fully immersed, needing time to reorient themselves to reality after leaving the virtual world.

4.  Accessibility

These two cases offer a glimpse into the future of immersive theatre: theatre as an open space, where audiences no longer need to attend in person but can participate from anywhere (such as from home). Remote performance viewing reduces the additional costs and time associated with attending physical performances, lowering the barrier to entry and increasing flexibility. Thus, technology opens up the potential to increase theatre capacity by removing the limitations of physical seats. However, both cases show that immersive theatre productions using digital technology even have a more limited audience capacity. Several challenges limit scalability:

• Balancing Technology and Experience:

Immersive virtual theatre relies on a distinctive experience. Many productions are complex, involving carefully crafted environments, character interactions, and storytelling. For example, Draw Me Close is designed to accommodate just one audience member at a time, ensuring the quality of emotional engagement and maintaining the personalized nature of the performance.

• Technological Equipment:

Equipment remains limited. For theatres, using digital technology often involves high development and maintenance costs as well as the expense of purchasing the necessary equipment. For audiences, immersive theatre productions depend on various technologies that may alienate those unfamiliar with or lacking access to such equipment.

The analysis of the two cases prompted me to think about two questions:

• Gamification

The theme for International Museum Day in 2023 and 2024 was "Museums, Sustainability, and Well-being" and "Museums for Education and Research" separately. When it comes to sustainability and education, I think gamification is a great answer.

For example, Assassin's Creed, produced by Ubisoft, is known as a "museum simulator". From Assassin’s Creed II’s introduction of famous landmarks and figures to the "Discovery Tour" mode in Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla, players are treated not only to thrilling combat but also to immersive, guided historical tours designed by experts. This innovative mode allows players to explore historical environments as though visiting a museum, drawing widespread acclaim for making learning enjoyable.

Tracing the origins of museums reveals their playful roots. The world’s first museum, the Museum of Alexandria, was named after Alexander the Great. I like the views of a historian "Cicero by the Sea" - He believes that Alexander the Great is a person with a strong "playfulness" and has the ambition of "the world is so big, I want to see it" since he was a child. Alexander the Great launched the Eastern Expedition and established at least 20 cities named after him along the way to witness his great achievements, which is a proof of this view. The idea of ​​Ptolemy, who succeeded him and a ruler focused on consolidation, was "Let the world see me", and it was he who established the Mouseion. 

The Mouseion was inspired by the Academy of Athens. According to Strabo's record in Geography, the Mouseion provided free board and lodging for scholars, and there was also a gathering hall in the center that could accommodate hundreds of people, where scholars exchanged ideas with each other - the museum was interactive from the beginning. This interactive mode is similar to the mode in Assassin's Creed - Odyssey where players can stop in front of scholars and have a conversation.

In the Chinese cultural environment, learning and play are often seen as opposites. However, as the history of museums shows, learning has always been fueled by curiosity and a sense of play. Today, with advancements in digital technology, this connection is being revitalized. As the case of The Under Present, the game mechanism is added, blurring the boundaries between games and dramas, making theatre more of a fresh, relaxing, and fun thing.

• Visual art elements

The prominence of visual art and technological elements makes the essence of some works seem to deviate from traditional performing arts. 

With the use of digital technology and gamification, the boundary between traditional performing arts and visual arts has become increasingly blurred.  For example, in The Under Presents and Draw Me Closer, 3D Animation, Illustrative Animation are used extensively. Creators can use new technologies to enhance the expressiveness of traditional performing arts. For example, through AR or VR technology, the emotional expression of the characters can be combined with the interaction of the audience to enhance the emotional resonance of the audience. However, although this has broadened the forms of artistic expression and brought a richer experience to the audience, in some works, visual effects and technology-driven interactivity may become the core of the audience experience, and the performance art characteristics of the work are weakened. 

The case studies of The Under Presents and Draw Me Close demonstrate how digital technologies, particularly VR, are transforming immersive theatre by enabling new forms of interactivity and emotional engagement. Both productions push the boundaries of traditional theatre, offering a glimpse into the future of storytelling where live performance and digital innovation coexist. They provide excellent reference for immersive theater in the digital age, but at the same time there is still room for improvement in the overall industry.