Interactivity and Immersion in The Drowned Man

Abstract

The chapter proposes a new theoretical approach towards interactivity, participation and audience experience in immersive theatre, using a detailed close analysis of Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man (2013–2014). Discussion is structured around three modes of interactivity: (1) cognition, imagination and interpretation; (2) functional or utilitarian participation; and (3) explicit audience activity—the chapter argues for a flexible mode of analysis when considering interactivity in immersive theatre. Widening the discussion to include production design, structure and form, the act of exploration and the empty room, the chapter identifies and questions immersive theatre’s implicit assumptions about audience “empowerment,” “freedom” or “choice”, concluding that immersive audience experience exists in the interplay between their understanding or expectations of “immersive” and “interactive” forms, and what a production—implicitly or explicitly—provides.