Immersive telling of Bright Half Life: A Research Thesis

My name is Shelby Breda, and for my Honors Capstone project, I wish to explore the effects of immersive theatre on modern audiences through a proposed production of Bright Half Life, written by Tanya Barfield. Since COVID, theaters have struggled to maintain audience retention, and because of the lack of interest and engagement, many nonprofit theaters have had to go on an extended hiatus, or shut down entirely. In a world where people can get the majority of their entertainment from home, theatre-makers have to come up with new and exciting ideas in order to get people interested, involved, and back in person. I believe one solution is immersive theatre, a style of theatre that removes the stage from the show entirely, and aims to completely immerse audiences within the performance. For this project, I hope to take the play Bright Half-Life by Tanya Barfield, and turn it into an immersive walkthrough experience in the Honors College.

Bright Half-Life is the nonlinear story of two women in a long-term relationship, who are navigating life as openly queer people in America. The play shows their decades long relationship from the moment they meet, begin dating, get married, have kids, eventually divorce, and later reconnect after years apart. However, because it is nonlinear, it asks the audience to piece together what is actually happening from bits and pieces of scenes between the two women, as the story jumps rapidly and unpredictably along the timeline, resembling memories flying by. Because it is nonlinear, it asks the audience to be pretty active by piecing together what is actually happening like a puzzle. However, by making it immersive, it allows the audience to become an active participant in the narrative, asking them to move from room to room in order to see the full story, and giving them the choice of what scene to see next.

With this project, I intend to find out if immersive theatre has the potential to bring audience members back to the theatre again. To monitor this, I will encourage the audience to answer some questions that they can access through a QR code before the show begins. Furthermore, at the end of the show, they will be given another QR code leading to a different set of questions asking them about how the structure of this immersive piece impacted them and their engagement. I will then compile and evaluate the data to present for my Capstone project, and take the evidence with me as proof that immersive theatre has the power to attract and retain audiences. In today’s day and age, increasing audience engagement through immersive theatre is imperative, as audience numbers keep dwindling. With my research for this project, I aim to support theaters undergoing an engagement crisis, and keep the art of theatre alive.

Whatever surplus I have, I intend to donate to the Honors College at Texas State University for any future creative capstone projects.