Interactive Theatre Research Articles

Interactive Theater Experience Design Based on Image Recognition in Virtual Reality Environments

Interactive Theater Experience Design Based on Image Recognition in Virtual Reality Environments

CHATogether Skit Development and Healing of Asian American Generation Z’s Unspoken Agonies: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT Generation Z (Gen Z) has experienced unprecedented psychological challenges in recent history, and Asian American Gen Zers, in particular, bear a distinct mental health burden. This pilot study introduces Compassionate Home, Action Together (CHATogether)’s novel digital community program that promotes Asian American mental health through interactive theater and explores the impacts of theater skit development on Gen Zers’ mental health and family relationships. Here, we guide participants to develop skits using these stages: 1) identifying topics and collaborators; 2) planning the scene; 3) improvisation; 4) writing; 5) community engagement. We then explore the impact of the skit production process on participants’ emotional health through interviewing nine individuals and using thematic analysis of those anonymized transcripts. Results suggest that narrative writing, improvisation, and acting may hold a future for culturally adaptive and family-centered interventions for Asian American Gen Zers. A larger study scale is warranted for validity of potential clinical applications.

At performe eller ikke at performe

Focusing on the experience of the audience, Kim Skjoldager-Nielsen analyzes two performances by Danish director Signa Sørensen in order to sum up some dramaturgical perspectives of this particular kind of interactive theater.

The Parliament of the Scheldts. Reflections on Politics and Play in Reimagining the Coastal Landscape of the Netherlands

This text reflects on the recent Landscape Makers Congress co-organised by Studio Inscape as a design intervention seeking to re-politicise the South-Western Delta region (SWD) of the Netherlands. Like many coastal regions around the world, the Dutch coast (including the SWD) is facing serious challenges from climate change. In the SWD, these challenges are taken up and politicised through the memory of a flood disaster that devastated the region in 1953. On the one hand, the legacy of this flood, which includes the coastal engineering structures of the Delta Works, makes the consequences of climate change salient to the region’s inhabitants. Frequently, inhabitants voice frustration with the impression that their concerns are not taken seriously enough and not translated into concrete political actions. On the other hand, the same legacy also silences debates and considerations on alternative ways of responding to the many challenges of the changing climate, restricting the scope of discussions to narrow anthropocentric narratives of the ‘threat’ of water and the ‘war’ between the Dutch and the sea. Using interactive theatre, the Landscape Makers Congress invited more than 100 regional inhabitants, policymakers, water engineers and representatives of environmental NGOs to consider the future of the landscape in the SWD from a range of different perspectives. During the day, participants represented one out of several more-than-human ‘landscape makers’ in a fictional parliament and engaged in debates on several key dilemmas and different spatial strategies, situated in different periods in the future (2030, 2050 and 2100). As the day progressed, the ‘parliament’ bore witness to some of the consequences of climate change as well as the consequences of the decisions they made themselves. Through plenary discussions, workshops and interventions during the day, the audience was engaged in discussions on some different futures that might be possible in the SWD and on whose values and interests should or should not be part of the process of constructing these futures. Based on our experiences on the day and activities in the region more generally, some reflections are offered on the different concepts and strategies operationalised in the Landscape Makers Congress: its playful use of multifocality, its dramatisation of temporality and its staging of a particular experience of politics. Thus, this text offers some reflections on community engagement using design-based methodologies in the context of politicised (and the politicisation of) environments.

Acting on Emotions: Designing with the relational dramas in welfare systems

As welfare systems worldwide face increasing pressures, there is a growing need for actionable approaches to transform them into more adaptable and sustainable forms. Service design is suggested to support such transformations. While early service design focussed on experiences, it has recently adopted systemic perspectives to address the complex interrelations among actors in service systems. However, this shift has neglected how these relations are experienced emotionally by the actors involved. Since emotions are integral to how actors understand, navigate and form agency, overlooking them can hinder service design’s ability to support welfare systems transform into more adaptable forms. This research aimed to integrate experiential and systemic perspectives in service design to support actors in transforming complex welfare systems. To explore this, a transdisciplinary research-by-design study was conducted. Drawing on recent service design research and relational sociology, the study was informed by the concept of emotional reflexivity and a service ecosystem design framework. Situated within the Norwegian child welfare system, this research involved over 100 system actors. Systems oriented design and theatre practices were used to facilitate emotional reflexivity among system actors about the complex, and sometimes difficult, relational dynamics they were embedded within. The four-month collaboration culminated in an interactive theatre event involving 800 participants, followed by facilitated conversations among system actors. By focussing on diverse emotional experiences within the child welfare system, three pairs of propositions for incorporating emotions into systemic approaches to service design were developed: 1) adopting a systemic view of emotions, 2) mirroring emotions to support reflexivity, and 3) facilitating conversations about emotional tensions. We discuss the implications of these propositions for practice and theory and how they can advance systemic approaches to service design within complex welfare systems.

Theatrical Interactivity as a Model of Communication in Modern Culture

The purpose of the article is to reveal the peculiarities of theatrical interactivity as a model of communication in modern culture and to consider interactive theatre as a means of social transformation. Research methodology. The terminological method, the typological method, the method of functional analysis, the method of synthesis, as well as the method of systematisation and generalisation are applied (for consideration and scientific substantiation of the concept of theatrical interactivity, identification of the characteristic features of interactive theatre as a phenomenon of modern cultural space). Scientific novelty. Theatrical interactivity as a model of communication in modern culture has been studied; analysed models of interactivity by M. L. Ryan, McIver Lopez, S. Dixon and others in the context of the interaction between the participant and the production; the theatre methodology of A. Boal "Theatre of the Oppressed" is considered (the audience is an active participant in the performance). Based on the analysis of modern European productions of interactive theatre, the main criteria of the approach to their creation are identified. Conclusions. Interactive theatre is a form of theatrical action that involves the active participation of the viewer, who ceases to be just a spectator, turning into a full participant in the joint creative process. Theatrical interactivity involves taking the viewer out of the comfort zone, from the position of an "observer" and bringing them into the sphere of live communication and perception. At the same time, this is not always synonymous with empowerment or satisfaction, and the desire to give the viewer some freedom is in some cases restrained by manipulative performances. As an alternative communication space, a place where people listen to each other, express their own thoughts – interactive theatre is a means of social transformation. They establish direct contact with their audience, who not only perceives and evaluates the productions, but thanks to the live dialogue becomes a partner in the stage action. Theatrical interactivity involves the observance of the following criteria: thinking outside the place of the performance, substantiating the relationship between the audience and the actors, moving away from the demonstration of the audience, maximum simplification and consistency. Individual practices of interactive theatre allow participants to distance themselves from social roles and bring their own values to this experience.
 Keywords: theatrical interactivity, interactive theatre, actor, audience, communication model, modern culture, interaction.

Shimpai Muyou: Confronting Child Suicides in Japan through a Serious Game & School-based Intervention

School bullying is responsible for a large number of child suicides in Japan. Serious games have proved to be effective and highly motivational educational tools capable of increasing awareness, changing behaviour, reduce risk factors and even improving protective skills. This paper presents a novel approach of using both participatory design and gameplay to sensitize children (aged 7–12​ years old) on bullying victimization. Action research strategy is used with intentions to improve the quality of school life in Japan through the use of a serious game called Shimpai Muyou. What makes it stand out from the rest of the crowd is that the entire intervention was design, developed and evaluated through partnering with children in a school setting. The research is largely qualitative and exploratory in nature, stemmed from interdisciplinary core ideas related to technology, education, psychology and interactive theatre. Findings from both formative and summative evaluations indicated that child-users empathically engaged with the synthetic characters, attributing a range of emotions to their actions e.g., empathy, compassion, sadness, anger etc., tackling ethical dilemmas and bullying situations with confidence. From these results, we can conclude that Shimpai Muyou is a useful and engaging school-based anti-bullying intervention.

The Effectiveness of a Program Based on Interactive Theater in Developing Some Behavioral Etiquette in Early Childhood

هدفتِ الدراسةُ إلى الكشفَ عن فاعليّة برنامجٍ قائمٍ على المسرح التفاعليّ في تنمية بعض الآداب السلوكيّة، كذلك الكشف عن درجة استمرارية فاعلية البرنامج القائمٍ على المسرح التفاعليّ في تنمية بعض الآداب السلوكيّة في مرحلة الطفولة المبكّرة بعد انتهاء تطبيقه بشهر، واعتمدت الدراسـةُ على المنهـجَ شبهَ التجـريبيّ ذا المجموعتيـن: التجريبيّة والضابطـة، وتكوّنت عيّنـةُ الدراسة مـن (60) طفلًا من أطـفال مرحلة الطفولة المبكّرة، تم تقسيمهم بالتساوي إلى مجموعتين بواقع (30) طفل مجموعة تجريبيّةٍ و (30) مجموعة ضابطةٍ، واستخدمـت الباحثةُ مقياسَ الآداب السلوكيّة، والـبـرنامــجَ القائـمَ على المسـرح التفاعليِّ من إعدادها، واختبار ستانفورد بينيه للذكاء (تقنين لويس مليكة، 1998)، وكشفت نتــائـجُ الدراسة عن وجود فاعلية دالة إحصائيًا للبرنامج القائمٍ على المسرح التفاعليّ في تنمية بعض الآداب السلوكيّة، كذلك كشفت النتائج عن استمرارية فاعلية البرنامج القائمٍ على المسرح التفاعليّ في تنمية بعض الآداب السلوكيّة في مرحلة الطفولة المبكّرة بعد انتهاء تطبيقه بشهر. وتم مناقشة النتائج وتفسيرها في ضوء الإطار النظري والدراسات السابقة، وأوصت الدراسة ببعض التوصيات منها ضرورة تفعيلِ المسرح التفاعليّ في العمليّة التعليميّة، وخاصّةً مرحلةِ الطفولة المبكّرة؛ لِمَا لها من أثرٍ إيجابيٍّ وجدانيٍّ ومعرفيٍّ في تحسين أداء الأطفال بصفةٍ عامّةٍ.

Forum Theater: An Innovative Strategy to Enhance Clinician Communication With Marginalized Trauma Patients.

Marginalized groups experience a higher frequency of traumatic injury and are more likely to report negative experiences in the health care setting. Trauma center staff are prone to compassion fatigue, which impairs patient and clinician interactions for these groups. Forum theater (a form of interactive theater designed for addressing social issues) is proposed as an innovative method of exploring bias and has never been applied in the trauma setting. This article aims to determine the feasibility of implementing forum theater as an adjunct to enhance clinician understanding of bias and its influence on communication between clinicians and trauma populations. This is a descriptive qualitative analysis of adopting forum theater at a Level I trauma center in a New York City borough with a racially and ethnically diverse population. The implementation of a forum theater workshop was described, including our work with a theater company to address bias in the health care setting. Volunteer staff members and theater facilitators participated in an 8-hr workshop leading to a 2-hr multipart performance. Participant experiences were collected in a postsession debrief to understand the utility of forum theater. Debriefing sessions after forum theater performances demonstrated that forum theater is a more engaging and effective method for dialogue surrounding bias than personal past experiences with other educational models. Forum theater was feasible as a tool to enhance cultural competency and bias training. Future research will examine the impact it has on levels of staff empathy and its impact on participants' level of comfort communicating with diverse trauma populations.

Creating room for citizen perspectives in ‘smart city’ Amsterdam through interactive theatre

The ‘smart city’ vision is popular, but it lacks citizen perspectives. The aim of this study was to gain insight into whether and how art-based citizen engagement can create more room for citizen perspectives in smart cities by developing and testing an art-based citizen engagement project in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. To that end, a combination of interactive theatre, interaction design and social research methods was used to bring together diverse publics and innovation professionals for joint exploration of increased dataveillance in cities. The events were studied through observations, and through interviews with participants and organisers. Data analysis was guided by the outcomes, processes and challenges of the responsible innovation dimensions: inclusion, reflexivity, anticipation and responsiveness (Stilgoe et al., 2013). The most important achievements of art-based citizen engagement were: engaging people who would not have engaged with the topic otherwise, encouraging participants to question common phrases and assumptions, exploring future social implications of technologies, and staging meaningful interactions between citizens and professionals. The most significant challenge was to involve citizens in a way that could influence innovation trajectories.

Mobilizowanie i relatywizowanie przemocy. Interakcyjny wymiar przemocy w stojącej przed dylematem moralnym grupie, w której pozycja żadnej osoby nie jest uprzywilejowana

Using the perspectives of microsociology, ethnomethodology and Goffman's sociology, the author analyzes the relationship between artificiality (theatricality) of decision-making, the affective dynamic of a laboratory situation (the theatre stage) and interactions between participants. In order to uncover silent methods of coordinating actions (contrary to overtly adhering to institutional rules), I decide to use an innovative methodology. Together with performance artists, I created a simulation of a research situation (an interactive theatre play), in which six people are faced with a moral dillema. The interactions were filmed and analysed with the use of a videograph. No person's position was privileged. What happens when two strangers, occupying an equal position, face a moral dillema? The article focuses on an analysis of violence, which appears in groups or violence which the groups have to face. The author demonstrates how violence is used in social circumstances and rendered relative in order to maintain an interactional order.

Професійна підготовка фахівця соціономічного профілю: іноземна мова для психологів

The article analyzes the content of educational programs in English for psychologists for compliance with the modern realities of the educational process and the demands of postmodern society. The purpose of this study is to analyze the known forms and organizational and methodological conditions of training psychologists in the professional literature, in particular, regarding the training of future psychologists to solve consulting activities. For this, the method of system-structural analysis, descriptive-analytical and typological methods are applied. It is claimed that modern educational programs are more than ever a field of combination, cooperation and contradictions between traditional and modern principles, forms, methods, means of education. Given the processes of European integration in Ukraine, the need for a radical update of educational programs, approaches and methods in the sense of connection with practical activities and everyday life, in accordance with the principles of interactivity, digitalization, continuous learning and self-education, etc. is recognized. In order to form the key competencies of the modern age, traditional forms, means, and methods of training specialists in the socio-economic profile need to be changed. It is about increasing the number of practical classes, strengthening international ties, further active use of multimedia educational materials, case method and means of socio-psychological interactive theater, introduction of new topics on intercultural communication and cognitive biases. Emphasis is placed on the expression of forms of independent work of students and strengthening of international ties. However, the question of finding the optimal balance between traditional (classical) and new approaches in the educational process, in particular in curricula, remains open.

Non-Actor as Performer

As interactive theater becomes more popular, two recent productions at Arizona State University took this trend to a new level by placing a non-actor on the stage to be integrated into the performance, watched by the rest of the audience. In Healing Wars, created by Liz Lerman and directed and choreographed by Keith Thompson, a non-actor was brought into the company to perform each night as the Vet. In Sojourn Theatre’s Don’t Go, co-directed by Michael Rohd and Nik Zaleski, four new non-actors were chosen for each show and integrated into the performance. The use of non-actor as performer was designed to create a distancing effect in each show between performance and reality, but the method of integration between non-actor and production was unique, resulting in radically different audience reactions.

Theatre in the Age of Digital Technologies

The paper studies the functioning of modern theater in regard to the use of digital technologies. New digital technologies affect the development of theater as an art form, with unique forms of performances, new theatrical specialties, specific technologies of stage creativity, and theatrical work appearing. Currently, the technification of theatre stage design, a process of mutual influence ofscience and art, goes along with the aestheticization of theatre equipment. The concept of the virtual and interactive theatre was also clarified due to the influence of digital culture. In this context, introduction of new technologies in theatre is associated with the changes in the stage design imagery linked to the change in worldview, with the development ofsocio-aesthetic features of the clash of different eras, the enhancement of the theatre technical equipment, which contributes to the emergence of new genre precedents in theatre. At the same time, digital technologies in modern stage design made it possible to form a new culture of scenography, adding a diverse, spatial composition, special effects, hyperrealism or expressionistic blur to the space of the stage. Digital culture and its new technologies contribute to the globalization of the perception of theatrical art, including online broadcasts of performances, where new technologies radically influence the dynamics of the artistic process and serve as a source of diversity in the existing forms of theatrical discourse and its artistic practice.

Interactive audio dramas – another face of podcasting or a new type of sound art?

Radio is changing in the face of new media. The recipients influence the content they listen to, co-create it through podcasting. Interactive works of audible art make the listener their character, who is able to concrete the story and bring it into existence. The following article highlights the main distinguishing features of interactive imagination theater in relation to podcasting as a method of distributing phonic content.

Health inequalities, ethnic minorities and COVID19: interactive theatre workshop drawing on a qualitative interview study

BackgroundThe COVID19 pandemic revealed and deepened existing inequalities. These were exacerbated by institutional and interpersonal racism and poorly conceived public health messaging. As a result, people from minority ethnic backgrounds in the UK were disproportionately affected. We conducted a creative interdisciplinary session to support interactive reflection and discussion on these inequalities between the actors and the audience, who was comprised of public health scientists and NHS practitioners, to come up with practical ways to address ethnicity-based health inequalities going forward. MethodsWe prepared a 45 min interactive scenario drawing on forum theatre approaches, which are based on the Theatre of the Oppressed: a set of dramatical techniques created by Augusto Boal. To understand what to include the interactive scenario we carried out a workshop built on a narrative interview study with 70 adults who had Covid between March, 2020, and November, 2021. We adopted a maximum variation sampling strategy focusing on people from minority ethnic backgrounds (45 of total sample). Interviews were done remotely and recorded via video or audio. Study participants were invited to tell their story in their own words, alongside semi-structured prompting. After thematic analysis, the research team worked with theatre practitioners from the Performing Medicine company to create scenarios from verbatim interview content. The format allows audience members to watch scenarios and interact directly with actors, giving advice on how to improve the situation. The study was approved by Berkshire Ethics Committee. Informed verbal and written consent were obtained from all participants. FindingsFive themes from analysis explored in the workshop emerged: (1) existing racialised disadvantages that impacted COVID-19 exposure: employment, housing, and caring responsibilities; (2) unequal access to care, welfare, and support; (3) fears about the health-care system regarding quality of care and vaccine safety; (4) perceptions that the media and public health messaging blamed minority ethnic groups for spreading infection; and (5) increases in acts of direct racism. These informed the development of a 45-minute interactive scenario, which will be performed at the 10th UK Public Health Science conference. InterpretationThere is an urgent need to re-evaluate public health messaging and care for people from minority ethnic backgrounds. This theatre workshop will support reflection to refine workshop content for further dissemination. FundingUK Economic and Social Research Council.

Reflecting from the Middle: Ethics within an Interactive Theatre Project Working for Social Equity

Reflecting from the Middle: Ethics within an Interactive Theatre Project Working for Social Equity

Boundaries of Participation

In this essay I explore three questions central in the current discourse on audience participation in theatre and performance. First, what do we mean when we talk about participation, and who is it really for? Second, are expectations that participation represents a democratization of the arts realistic, or is this an aspect of interactive and participatory theatre projects that is over-emphasized? And finally, how has critique against neoliberalist ideology come into the current discourse, and how relevant is this critique in the Norwegian context? I will not go into theoretical discussions on definitions and models of participation and interaction, or if theatre is always already participatory. Instead, I will focus on the ideals that are regularly attributed to participation, and the critique against participatory practices that have surfaced during the last decade.

From interactivity to intra-activity in performing arts for children

This essay will give an introduction to dilemmas and experiences of making interactive theatre for children based on findings from the SceSam Project. This artistic research project bridged artistic practice and theoretical perspectives on interactive dramaturgies in the context of cultural politics, interdisciplinary, and participatory art. Further developments in our critical times of mass extinction and climate change, have turned our interest away from the focus on human interactions towards the intra-actions of more-than-human agents of performing arts for children; space, environments, nature and material entanglements. The Animalium project will serve as example of how this might look like within theatre for the very young.
 Authors quote from the conference presentation: «Theatre connects deeply with how we relate to one another as human beings, both as artists and audiences, how we are able to imagine new human and non-human worlds together, and how entanglements and sympoiesis create a community of differences in the theatre space."

CHATogether: a novel digital program to promote Asian American Pacific Islander mental health in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, we developed the Compassionate Home, Action Together program, (CHATogether) to support the mental health of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. CHATogether is a culturally informed and virtually delivered support program that harnesses the talents of AAPI teens, young adults, parents, and mental health professionals who share a commitment to serve their local communities.MethodsOur objective was to identify the active components, optimal utilization, potential benefits, and pertinent limitations of the CHATogether program during the 3 years since its inception in 2019. By that time, the program had developed six distinct component arms: interactive theater, mental health education, research, peer support and community outreach, collaboration, and AAPI mentorship. To work towards this objective, we conducted a qualitative study using thematic analysis and an inductive approach based on grounded theory (GT), in which we analyzed anonymized transcripts of four focus groups, comprised of 20 program participants (11 females; 9 males).ResultsWe developed a model of two overarching domains, each with three underlying themes: I. Individual stressors: (1) Family conflict; (2) Cultural identity; and (3) Pandemic impact; and II. Collective stressors: (1) Stigma related to mental health and illness; (2) Pandemic uncertainty; and (3) Xenophobia and societal polarization. Strengths of the CHATogether program include its role as a conduit toward AAPI connectedness and pride as well as purpose in building community. Through support and mentorship, the program cultivates a unique platform that promotes healing and resiliency in response to pandemic stressors and beyond.ConclusionsCHATogether creates a safe space for the AAPI community. Through its methods of storytelling and encouraging creativity, CHATogether facilitates the discussion of challenging topics specific to the AAPI community. Given the national mental health crisis that is further being exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, a digital prevention program such as CHATogether holds promise towards providing access to mental health resources and supporting early help-seeking behaviors for individuals in the AAPI community.