INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCE DESIGN AND AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN CONTEMPORARY THEATRE

Abstract

In an age of digital media, the short span of people's attention spans, and differing cultural expectations, today's theatre is under growing pressure to capture an audience's attention, ensure emotional engagement, and foster extended engagement. Traditional performance models tend to engage the audience as passive recipients that are not always encouraged to delve into the experience, particularly for younger, more digital audiences. This paper analyses the impact of interactive performance design on issues of audience engagement in modern theatre. It investigates how participatory staging, immersive environments, immediate engagement of the audience, digital resources and real-time performer–spectator interaction enhance the emotional connection, immersion, and collective experience of the theatre. One of the main conclusions of the study is that interactive performance design can help the audience move from passive to active involvement which results in increased attentiveness, personal relevance and satisfaction. The paper also identifies a number of challenges: unwillingness of audiences to engage in participation, technical challenges, structural issues in the content of a story, adaptability of actors, and accessibility challenges. The results show that a balance is needed between the artistic authority and the freedom of the audience in the theatre. The use of interactive design should not replace traditional theatrical forms, it should be used in addition to and along with traditional theatrical forms. While interactive performance design is crucial to the revitalization of contemporary theatre, it must be context-sensitive, give the audience good guidance, and be complete in terms of both thematically and towards the performance goals.