Immersive theatre: Training and opportunities

The rise of immersive theatre in the UK has revolutionised the traditional concept of theatrical performance, tearing down the fourth wall and offering a completely different experience for audiences. Immersive theatre moves audiences from being mere observers to becoming part of the action, interacting with the cast and helping to shape the narrative.

For drama students, immersive theatre presents an exciting opportunity to perform with professional actors while developing their own acting and improvisational skills.

Immersive Everywhere

One company at the forefront of the immersive theatre scene is Immersive Everywhere, a joint venture by Louis Hartshorn and Brian Hook of Hartshorn-Hook Enterprises and Mark Hurry, Elliot Hargreaves and Mark Hargreaves of Showtime Theatre. Immersive Everywhere works with leading studios, such as Paramount Pictures and the BBC, to create live interpretations of well-known shows in London and overseas.

The company's first project was a bold reimagining of F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, which opened in London in 2015 and has since played in Cardiff, Dublin, Brussels and Seoul, becoming the longest-running immersive theatre production. In this energetic show, audiences are invited to Jay Gatsby's mansion to become part of the unfolding drama while dancing the evening away at a party that captures the essence of the 1920s jazz age. The Great Gatsby has a minimum age requirement of 14, so it is suitable for students in Year 10 and above.

Another successful show from Immersive Everywhere was Dr Who: Time Fracture, which opened at Unit HQ, Mayfair in 2021, closing earlier than originally planned after a challenging two years due to Covid. Once again, audiences were at the heart of the story as they joined a mission to save the universe, encountering all those familiar elements of Doctor Who – daleks, cybermen, time lords, aliens and monsters – along the way, together with accurate recreations of the TV show's sets, props and costumes.

The company's most recent production, which closed at London's Camden Garrison at the end of May after notching up more than 300 shows, was Peaky Blinders: The Rise. Tapping into the popularity of the BAFTA-winning BBC television series, the 360-degree immersive experience took audiences into the world of the Shelby family amongst beautifully recreated scenes of 1920s London.

Brian Hook said: ‘Peaky Blinder: The Rise has been a huge success in pushing the boundaries of the immersive theatre tradition, allowing guests to play an active role in the storyline and determine the story's ending.’ As well as taking part in iconic scenes from the TV show, audience members are able to listen to some of the now much-loved music from the show.

Training opportunities

As well as offering trailblazing performances, Brian Hook and Louis Hartshorn have teamed up with the Butterfly Theatre Collective to launch the Immersive Acting School, based at Kingswood Arts in Dulwich, South London. There are three part-time courses: the Foundation Immersive Acting course for non-professional actors, the Specialist Immersive Acting course for graduate-level professional actors, and the Intensive Immersive Acting course for experienced professional actors.

Courses are based on the Gonsalves Method of actor training, which is based on the Meisner Acting Technique and has been developed over ten years by Butterfly Theatre Collective's chief artistic director, Aileen Gonsalves. ‘Immersive theatre is the new way of doing theatre and is more popular now than ever before,’ she says. ‘More companies are creating immersive productions and are constantly developing new ideas and better ways of immersing audiences into storytelling.’

Immersive theatre as an artform is here to stay, and the Immersive Acting School's courses will play a key role in developing those unique skills needed by professional and aspiring immersive actors.

immersiveeverywhere.com

butterflytheatre.com/training/immersive-acting-school