Health & Fitness
What's the Deal with "Interactive" Theatre?
Interactive Theatre - You don't have to do the chicken dance!
I do interactive murder mystery dinner shows for a living. It never fails. Tell people you do theatre, and they understand. Tell people you do interactive theatre, and it's like you've just said you like to eat live bugs. They either don't have a clue what interactive means, or immediately their minds are filled with images of an actor forcing them to stand up and do the chicken dance. And let's face it, unless there is a lot of alcohol involved, most folks are a little uncomfortable being singled out in a group of strangers. And, unfortunately, there are a lot of "interactive" events where that's just what happens. As a result, interactive theatre gets a bum rap. When I founded Do or Die Mysteries, I wanted to be sure to avoid that pitfall. I wanted everyone to interactive at their own comfort level.
So, how do you explain that interactive simply means you have the opportunity to effect the action in the show? You don't have to interact - but you can. It means you're making theatre with the audience - not at them. I've been doing this for 25 years, and that's still a puzzler. To me, the neatest thing about doing this kind of theatre is the breaking of the invisible "fourth wall" that separates actor from audience. In a traditional stage play, if the audience doesn't get it, you're sunk. Call it a night. There's no way to reach out and draw your audience in. In interactive theatre, if somebody doesn't get it, the actor has the opportunity to sit down, figure out what's missing and fill in the blanks. In interactive theatre, everybody gets a slightly different show. It's awesome - and nobody has to do the chicken dance unless they want to.
The way I see it, in this day and age, interactive is the way to go in live theatre. You don't have to turn off your cell phone, you don't have to sit quietly for an hour and a half. You're engaged from the moment you walk in. You'll laugh and talk and probably meet new friends. It's fun and different...and you can't get it on Netflix or cable.
