Want to be a character in a performance yourself? Without anything being asked of you? It’s possible during ‘It Went Dark’, an ‘immersive’ theater experience at the De Hurk industrial estate in Eindhoven. You can experience eleven days here from Friday 1 July.
Immersive theatre? We also had to look it up. Van Dale refers to the English word ‘immersion’, which stands for ‘immersion’. Immersive theater turns out to be an experience at the interface of theatre, sound, video and game. As a visitor you are immersed in that experience, in which you are a character yourself.
A new concept in the Dutch theater world, but recently used more and more. An ‘active alternative on location’ for passively watching theater from the red plush, says Anouk van Geffen. “There is a need for that.”
Van Geffen is the business leader of Studio Puck van Dijk, which will expand the immersive theater experience from 1 July It Went Dark presents at De Hurk industrial estate in Eindhoven. An audiovisual spectacle with interactive video projections, live performance and a personalized sound experience is promised.
In It Went Dark you get headphones on your head and you first go for a walk. The guideline is a story written for the performance by writer Lisa Weeda (known for bestseller Alexandra) and director Puck van Dijk. In this your father (actor Bartho Braat, known from oa GTST) and leads you to your only sister in an abandoned warehouse (the Hurkse Bogen), where you and the other participants experience the denouement of the story.
“People sometimes confuse it with interactive theater”, Van Geffen now knows. “Interaction can take place, but you don’t have to, if you don’t want to. You can also just watch and listen. You experience the performance the way you want.”
That It Went Dark playing in an abandoned industrial area has to do with the dystopian setting of the story. “It’s about what the future might look like, with city hubs against the heat and deserted cities. We want to give the visitor the experience of being in this abandoned city.”
The experience lasts a maximum of one and a half hours and can be experienced 28 times at De Hurk from 1 July. That seems like a lot, but only 20 people can participate per performance.
Are there no real actors at all? Anyway. “At the location you meet one real actress. I can’t reveal more.”
‘It Went Dark’, July 1 through 17. Recommended age: from 15 years. It is also possible to visit the performance in a wheelchair. More info here†