Watching, attending, sense-making: spectatorship in immersive theatres

Article


Machon, J. 2016. Watching, attending, sense-making: spectatorship in immersive theatres. Journal of Contemporary Drama in English. 4 (1), pp. 34-48. https://doi.org/10.1515/jcde-2016-0004
TypeArticle
TitleWatching, attending, sense-making: spectatorship in immersive theatres
AuthorsMachon, J.
Abstract

This paper addresses the aesthetic, corporeal and intellectual dimensions of spectatorship in immersive theatre. Immersive work engages audiences at an experiential level and within environments that prompt multisensory engagement and explorative forms of audience participation. Immersive theatre makers, such as De La Guarda, dreamthinkspeak and Punchdrunk, have been making internationally recognised work throughout the twenty-first century. While audience interaction and participation has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention over the past few years, the significance of watching in immersive theatre remains elusive and merits further consideration. Drawing on Immersive Theatres (Machon, 2013) and referencing a full range of practice that is exemplary, this paper describes and defines ‘immersive theatres’ in broad terms. Using Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man (2014-15) as illustration, it considers the types of experience to be had and the qualities of watching that result in such events. In turn it addresses the type of ‘sense’ individuals can make when they are spectators to their own interactions, attendant to their actions and reactions.

Keywordsembodied spectatorship; immersive; interaction; Punchdrunk (syn)aesthetics; The Drowned Man
Research GroupTheatre Arts group
PublisherDe Gruyter
JournalJournal of Contemporary Drama in English
ISSN2195-0156
Electronic2195-0164
Publication dates
Print01 May 2016
Online12 May 2016
Publication process dates
Deposited05 Sep 2016
Accepted16 Oct 2015
Output statusPublished
Publisher's version
Copyright Statement

The final publication is available at www.degruyter.com: http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/jcde-2016-0004

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1515/jcde-2016-0004
Web of Science identifierWOS:000436519400004
LanguageEnglish
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