An Immersive Theatre Workshop at the College of Extraordinary Experiences
Two weeks ago, I participated in the College of Extraordinary Experiences (“the University of Extraordinary Experiences”) for the second time. Just like during my first participation, I found that one of the most magical elements of this stay - and one of its three pillars - is co-creation.
As Aristotle said, “the whole is more than the sum of its parts,” and this is especially true at the College. Each student co-creates this week through their involvement and participation. When you bring together so many interesting people from so many different professional fields, it makes sense to use the power of the collective to enable all these talents to shine!
In particular, the students of the university were invited to co-create the program for the last day of the stay. As one of my fellows summed up, “it was a day of crowdsourced programming that gave rise to a real buffet of diverse classes and workshops.”
For my contribution, I teamed up with @Eliza Calmat, an actress and immersive experience creator in France, and @Gunnar de Jong, an actor-creator based in Amsterdam, to offer a workshop on immersive theatre. We called our workshop “Immersive Tools: From Inside to Outside, Introduction to Immersive Theatre.”
In immersive theatre, the participants (the spectators) are an integral part of the experience; they co-create every moment with the actors. It is this seemingly simple yet crucial foundation that we wanted to share with our workshop.
Our goal was for our students to leave with two key principles:
The better you understand the participant's role and perspective, the better you (meaning the creators/actors) can design an experience that makes sense/speaks to/involves the participant.
The better the participant understands the creators'/actors' intention and purpose, the better their participation will be.
For an hour and a half, we taught them the basics of immersive theatre through the perspective of a participant, and of a creator. The first part of the workshop focused on the three types of participants: the surfers, the swimmers, and the divers. Or, as Eliza says: those who travel in the back of the car, those who travel in the front, and those who drive.
We then created a short experience in the form of a “walk” (in the corridors of the castle) where students could interact with our actors according to the three types listed.
Once this walk was completed, the students were invited to form groups and create their own mini immersive theatre production. Fortunately, the College has many costumes and accessories that helped them create their own universes!
Each group then presented their experience to the others. Then, we shared our impressions of the experiences thus created, as creators and as participants.
The groups put on great experiences, making good use of their new knowledge and playing along enthusiastically. Some students even left our workshop with a heightened desire to incorporate immersive theatre techniques into their work - mission accomplished!
Co-creating this workshop with Eliza and Gunnar was a true moment of sharing and joy, and we were delighted to share our passion with our peers! We are also very grateful to have been able to help co-create the overall experience of this university by contributing our part to this magical edifice.