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"while theatre practitioners have sought to recapture ritual’s alleged communion of spectators and performers, literary critics have generally sought in ritual some principles of repetitive structure. ritual, however, is not to be distinguished from other types of cultural expression by structure but by the attitude toward it held by participants and other members of the community, notably their belief in its efficacy."
anthony graham-white
audience/witness
performance theorist richard schechner states that "the move from theatre to ritual happens when the audience as a separate entity is dissolved into the performance as participants".
artist, author, and critic richard kostelanetz believes that "enticing the audience to become participants in a theatrical process is . . . precisely the same strategy that informed primitive ritual theatre"
audience participation = ritual？
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immersive theatre often requires audience participation,
does it make immersive theatre a ritual?
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the immersiveness of proscenium theatre vs. immersive theatre
immersive theatre allows the emancipation of the spectator, offering a choice of audience perspective, and vision as the means of audience activity. being a witness in a proscenium theatre, you are allowed to be totally immersed. while in an immersive theatre, it allows you to fell inside of the action, but you also become more aware of your identity as an audience and the audience around you, there is a clear mental separation between audience and performer.
immersive theatre automatically places the emphasis on the audience and the individual. commercialization pushes theatre to be tailored to the individual, driving a narcissism in the audience. different to proscenium theatre where you go to experience something someone else created, in immersive theatre, it feels like someone has created something for you. immersive theatre puts a different emphasis in the spectator/performer relationship.
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