Through the looking glass

I went with a friend this evening to see Then She Fell, loosely based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. This is an immersive theater experience in which every audience member is taken on a unique journey.

We were split up at some point, but that was ok. At the end, my friend and I got to compare notes, which was part of the fun.

She and I had had nearly the same experience, as it turned out, but not quite. For one thing, we had seen things in a different order. Ultimately though, that didn’t matter, because it wasn’t so much a story, as it was a journey. Narrative is powerful, but so is sensory immersion. Then She Fell is definitely the latter.

One day it might be interesting to see this sort of thing in virtual reality. Some obstacles remain though, maybe insurmountable ones. Eye contact, for one. Every time an actor in Then She Fell looked at you, he or she was really looking at you. You could feel a powerful sense of being seen, of the fourth crumbling in that moment.

Only real life can do that, at least for now. Ultimately though, who knows what will become possible? Someday theater may escape the bounds of physical reality entirely.

Old ideas of “live performance” may eventually need to be replaced by new ones. Perhaps this will be a good thing, or perhaps not. Hopefully, what is essential will always remain.

I am optimistic. As ever. 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *