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How to Create an Immersive Theater Experience

By Jennifer Lade 

Jennifer Lade is a drama teacher and community theatre enthusiast.  She teaches and directs plays at a program for homeschooled students in Massachusetts.  She loves acting and singing in community theatre productions.  Some of her favorite past roles are Morticia in The Addams Family and The Cat in the Hat in Seussical the Musical.  She earned a BA in English from Providence College. 

I’ll never forget the first time I saw a play put on by my local theatre company.  I was 10 years old.  The show was The Sound of Music.  All these years later, I still love the iconic story.  And yet, despite the engaging storyline and classic songs — who can’t name a few of Maria’s favorite things? — what I remember most from that production were the nuns wandering the lobby.

Tiny pairs of little nuns, habits freshly pressed, walked solemnly among the ticket holders who were waiting to take their seats.  Their hands were pressed together in a prayerful fashion, and their faces had the angelic look one would expect from 8-year-olds playing religious sisters.  These children would later take the stage as ensemble members in the scenes at the abbey, but for now, they were the main event.  Before the doors to the theatre had even opened, we were already in Austria, encountering the cloistered nuns of the abbey and the serene life from which Maria would soon depart.

Never underestimate the power of the environment for creating an immersive event that sticks with the audience.  The overall experience will be what makes your show stand out from the rest.  And it will keep people coming back for future shows, wondering what you might do next!

As a teacher-director, you have the power to create a unified, immersive experience for your audience, delighting them from the very first moment with an array of sights and sounds that set the stage (figuratively) for the show to come.  Here are some tips and ideas on how:

Lobby displays

Before the curtain opens on the stage and the scenery, audiences can be introduced to the setting with lobby decorations.  Consider the major setting or feel of your performance — is it a fairy tale, set in the dark woods?  Trees, shades of green, and tiny forest animals are your friends!  Is it underwater, such as in The Little Mermaid or Rainbow Fish?  Think schools of fish and bright seaweed against a translucent blue backdrop.

But you don’t have to be limited to a literal interpretation of the work, either.  I was in a production of Seussical in which the director imagined the opening scene as a museum, watched over by a security guard who was eventually revealed as the Cat in the Hat.  The walls of the theatre were covered in Dr. Seuss-inspired art created by cast and crew members.  There were maps for non-existent floors of the museum.  Older cast members acted as teachers and took around groups of teen cast members on “field trips” to see the art.  Finally, a large red frame bedecked with show characters sat near the box office for people to take selfies.  By the time the orchestra started the overture, the audience was fully immersed in the idea of our theatre as a Dr. Seuss museum, where nothing was as it seemed. 

Audio

Play pre-show music, either live or pre-recorded!  It can be instrumental versions of songs in the show, or music of a certain theme that matches the show, like sea shanties or folk music.  Of course, you’ll need to make sure all rights are properly acquired for whatever music you use.  An added advantage to using live music is that it involves more people in your production, which likely also increases your audience size.

Another option is to play an ambient soundscape that complements your production, such as twittering birds, crashing waves, or the sounds of a busy city street, either in the lobby or in the theatre prior to curtain.

Wandering characters

Like the nuns in The Sound of Music or the Cat in the Hat security guard, having your actors participate in the pre-show is a great way to bring the world of the play to the audience ahead of time.  It’s also a great way to keep your actors from getting bored backstage.

Villagers can wander about, selling concessions or raffle tickets while gossiping about the show’s characters.  Or, many shows have children playing orphans, pickpockets, newsboys, or mischievous students.  Put them to work playing gentle pranks on audience members, or asking if they’d like to hear the latest headlines.  A Halloween-themed show I attended had an actor playing a fortune teller in the lobby, but they could have used trick-or-treaters or even zombies staggering around.  Spooky shows like Pioneer’s Eerie Academy have almost endless possibilities for ghoulish figures to mingle with the audience.

Besides giving more visibility to actors who have a small part, having actors appear during the pre-show can also develop their improv skills by interacting in character with audience members.  But make sure to establish ground rules with actors about how, and how much, they should interact with playgoers.  Remind them to stay in character, keep their interactions short and pleasant, and not give away too much of the play.

Activities and games for attendees

There will always be people eager to get to the theatre early.  So consider engaging them with fun activities to pass the time until they can take their seats.  Again, the theme and setting of the play should inform your decisions.  For an upcoming production of Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum!, we will have a contest for people to guess the number of “magic beans” (jelly beans) in a jar.  A play with a circus theme, such as Stories Under the Big Top, could include simple circus activities for children (or adults!)  to attempt, such as making their way across a balance beam, walking on stilts, or trying their hand at juggling.  Photo booths are always easy to customize to a theme, and as a bonus, you can post links to your theatre’s socials and ask guests to post their photo and/or tag the organization.  This can also drum up publicity for future shows!

Concessions and raffles

The snacks and drinks sold at the show are nearly endlessly customizable to any theme.  At a production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory I attended, their candy had all been relabeled as various types of Wonka Bars.  But clever labeling could make almost anything work.  Have you ever tried a “Wicked” good bag of M&Ms?  Or Nemo’s school of Swedish Fish?

The same thing goes for raffle items.  Even if you don’t have much say over what the prizes are, using your imagination in labeling is all that’s needed for a theme.  A basket of self-care items could be from the princess in your show; a potted plant could come straight from the set of the play; a gift card could be “found” in a rich character’s vest pocket.

A recent play my class put on was a parody of a home shopping network, where wacky guests tried to sell even wackier products.  At the end of the show, these products, such as “Famous Rocks” and an amazing new invention called a Bind-It (re:  a stapler), were raffled off using each audience member’s entry ticket as the raffle ticket.  It was a fun way to get the audience interested in absurd or ordinary products!

During the show

Audience participation is nothing new, but it can be done in a variety of ways to engage audience members young and old.  Consider teaching the audience the refrain to a song before the show begins, and then encourage them to sing along when the song comes up.  Have actors call out to the audience to ask for advice or, as Peter Pan does to revive Tinkerbell, ask them to clap their hands to prompt the next event in the play.  Even simple blocking decisions, like having actors enter from the back of the theatre or dance down aisles, can make the audience feel more involved.  One ambitious Pioneer play, Holy Mother of Bingo! has the audience play five rounds of bingo throughout the course of the play, while also watching a murder mystery unfold!