Students are involved in a professional, off-campus immersive theater show.
Oklahoma City-based art collective Factory Obscura’s Those Who Lie Beyond: An Immersive Performance is an interactive art exhibit that prompts participants to indulge in three of the five senses—touch, sight and sound.
Ana Pellar, theater and performance sophomore, and Bri Williams, acting sophomore, play characters who interact with the audience.
“Immersive theater creates an original and different experience for every single person,” Pellar said. “There isn’t a proscenium, like in usual theater. You can walk around and touch things, play with things, and you can talk to the actors. It’s not like a formal museum.”
Williams said there are moments of scripted work, and there are moments of improv where the actors interact with the audience.
“There will be instances where an actor will pull someone out of the audience and ask them to tell a story in a private area, or ask an audience member to brush their hair or play a game,” Williams said. “It’s supposed to get people out of their comfort zones and have a whole new experience they’ve never had before.”
Ronn Burton, director and creator, brought immersive theater to Oklahoma because he was inspired by two immersive theater pieces, “Then She Fell” and “Sleep No More.”
“Immersive theater totally dissipates the boundaries between actor and audience. The audience is suddenly a part of the story, rather than a spectator of the story,” Burton said. “No two audience members will have the same experience.”
Williams said the cast members and a writer, Alex Prater, devised their own theater piece.
“We did improv exercises, and we looked at other works to be inspired by and came up with an interactive, immersive theater piece in the art exhibit,” Williams said. “We wanted to create a veil of mystery.”
Burton said students who want to be involved can volunteer to help work the show and will be able to see the show for free.
Ellie Howell, psychology freshman, said she looks forward to seeing the theater show.
“I’ve been to the art exhibit at Factory Obscura, and it was an amazing experience,” Howell said. “I’m excited to see the immersive theater show, I’ve never heard of anything like it.”
The show is at 9:15 p.m. on the first three Fridays and Saturdays of November at Factory Obscura, 1522 S. Robinson Ave. Tickets are $25, and $10 student rush tickets are available to purchase at the door upon arrival, or students can contact Ronn Burton at 19thcenturyhound@gmail.com.
“We are interested in bringing this kind of theater to Oklahoma, because theater is so straightforward here,” Pellar said. “It’s going to introduce some spice to Oklahoma theater.”
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