Immersive Theater and Activism

A book of plays, and a book about writing and staging plays for Immersive Theater. Through the creation of scripts that place spectator-actors in less explored scenarios within juvenile detention, wartime interventions, and immigration processes, this book provides practical strategies for directors and playwrights who work with immersive aesthetics.

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Immersive theater calls upon audience members to become participants, actors and "others." It traditionally offers binary roles--that of oppressor or that of victim--and thereby stands the risk of simplifying complex social situations.

Challenging such binaries, this book articulates theatrical "grey zones" when addressing juvenile detention, wartime interventions and immigration processes. It presents scripts and strategies for directors and playwrights who want to create theatrical environments that are immersive and pedagogical; aesthetically evocative and politically provocative; simple and complex.