Immersive Everywhere - the producers of The Great Gatsby and Doctor Who Time Fracture - have joined forces with Butterfly theatre to launch the first bespoke Immersive Acting School.
There are three part time courses on offer at the school that will run over a 6-week period: a Foundation Immersive Acting Course for non-professional actors, a Specialist Immersive Acting Course for graduate level professional actors, and an Intensive Immersive Acting Course for experienced immersive actors.
The training will be based on the Gondalves Method, which is rooted in the Meisner Technique and has been adapted by Butterfly’s immersive industry professionals. Training will be led by RSC director and artistic director of Butterfly Theatre, Aileen Gonsalves.
Gonsalves said, ‘Immersive Theatre is the new way of doing theatre and is more popular now than ever before. From Punchdrunk to The Great Gatsby, more and more companies are creating immersive productions and are constantly developing new ideas and better ways of immersing audiences into storytelling.
‘Immersive theatre comes with added risks that differ from conventional theatre, due to the increased proximity and interaction with the space and the audience. It requires skilled, brave, reliable and open minded actors.
‘For this reason, immersive companies look for immersive experienced actors when casting their shows. This training will give you all the skills you need in order to be a great immersive actor, will enable you to build on skills you already possess and gain confidence to use them in this new fast-growing area of theatre.’
Louis Hartshorn and Brian Hook, the Olivier Award-winning producers behind Immersive Everywhere said, ‘When we launched Immersive LDN in 2019, it was the first West End venue dedicated to developing and staging theatre-led immersive experiences, and we think it’s the perfect environment for the new and existing generations of immersive acting talent to hone their craft. We can’t wait to welcome them in, and to support them in their professional development and future careers.’
A free taster day will be held on 13 December for prospective students. Sign up for the taster day here.