Exploring Immersive Theater and Community Engagement

Escape rooms have been providing a new form of play for much of this decade. At the same time, immersive theater has been providing a new form of storytelling. What happens when the two get mixed?

In this episode, Emma and Gil are joined by Haley E.R. Cooper and J. Cameron Cooper of Strange Bird Immersive, who run the hybrid escape room/immersive theater piece The Man From Beyond, and the Immersology blog.

How can escape rooms use immersive theater to tell a story? And how can we learn from that to better tell stories in our games?

(Note: starting this episode, we are going to feature more detailed show notes of things we bring up in our conversation. That's especially important in this episode, as we refer to theater works that may not be well-known to others!)

Games mentioned in this episode (all digital):The Stanley Parable Myst Gone Home

Theater shows mentioned in this episode:Sleep No More Sweeney Todd (2017 off-Broadway semi-immersive) Selfie museums (e.g. Color Factory) Meow Wolf Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 Then She Fell The Nest

Also mentioned this episode: Improv for Gamers (book) Bartle Taxonomy of Gamer Types Ludology Episode 159 - Getting Out Scott Free (with Scott Nicholson)