Resistants, an immersive historical experience offered by the company Sculpteurs de Rêves.

The success of the immersive experience sparked a small revolution in theaters, and even beyond. By also seizing historical monuments to unfold fictions, and inviting the public to participate in the game and the plot, the theater begins to explore new modes of relationships with others... and with the world.

Le immersive show first wreaked havoc in the arts thanks to new technologies. Just look at the success of the Parisian equivalent of Carrières-des-Lumières in Les Baux de Provence: using the technique of “video mapping”, the Atelier des Lumières, in the 2000th century, offers a breathtaking insight into the work of Pablo Picasso, Gutsav Klimt or even the Orientalists. It didn't take long for the immersive experience to also infect the live show! Some saw it, after the Covid crisis, as a golden opportunity to reinvent the link between artists and public, strengthen contact, interact, and even influence the scenario. A concept that comes to us from the United Kingdom: the play “Sleep no more”, an adaptation of Macbeth, created in London in the early XNUMXs, already played on this principle of free wandering in a universe oscillating between reality and imagination.
In immersive theater, which is similar to a happening or a performance, the spectator becomes an active participant. He is invited to make choices, to follow this or that actor. Each moment experienced thus becomes unique, personalized, and modifies the experience of the collective. To be convinced, head to the Château de Maison-Laffitte, in Yvelines, to enjoy a magical experience after dark offered by the company Polaris. The public dressed in period costumes could follow the adventures of Beauty and the Beast. Around fifteen scenes to discover during a stroll, from the kitchen to the ballroom, an unusual journey where the public moved alongside around a hundred volunteer extras themselves led by a handful of professional actors. This is the latest trend to give a facelift to the old stones of our heritage... And relaunch their post-pandemic programming.

Today, from Paris to Vincennes, there is no longer a monument worthy of the name that does not seek to create its own immersive experience. Recently the Polaris troupe recreated at the Château de Rambouillet, in partnership with the Center des Monuments Nationaux, the behind the scenes of a state summit bringing together General de Gaulle and Dwight D. Eisenhower in the middle of the Cold War. There is also Crumble Production which, in 2022, offered itself, as a monumental stage, the second floor of the Parisian department store Le Bon marche (on the occasion of the 170th anniversary of the premises). Time for a “murder party” inspired by the novel by Émile Zola At the Ladies' Happiness. Invited after closing the doors into a transformed space, the public had two hours to find the murderer of the manager of the brand. And to better confuse the codes, each visitor had to mask themselves as a wolf. Notice to fans of true saga, the story is most of the time involved in the scenario. In the former Museum of the Liberation of Paris, housed above the Montparnasse station, you can experience the heyday of the French resistance while meeting figures like Raymond Aubrac or Jean Moulin. Each participant has to solve several puzzles. “Resistants” is a creation of the Sculpteurs de Rêves company.

Visual of the immersive Resistance experience

In May it will be the turn of the Gouffre de Padirac site to host its immersive show. The Crumble Production company was inspired here by Jules Vernes' “Journey to the Center of the Earth” to imagine a new experience 100 meters underground where we can follow the speleologist Édouard-Alfred Martel, but also Jules Verne and Sarah Bernhardt, in an exploration of this “devil’s hole”. From this immersion in an exceptional site to a life-size reconnection, there is only one step... which was taken last summer during the Avignon Festival. In fact, festival-goers could, early in the morning, follow in the footsteps of the actors in “Que ma joie remain”, a play inspired by the book by Jean Giono and directed by Clara Hédouin. The author took her spectators into the countryside of the Avignon hinterland, between clearings and paths smelling of thyme and pine. A theater hike taking the landscape as a setting, and even more than that: the weather and its vagaries, the light of the moment, the surrounding sounds... An interaction without filter. And one more step towards life.

Other trends in live performance:

1/ The newspaper on stage

Live Magazine is a living newspaper which is told on stage during an evening during which journalists, photographers, cartoonists, bloggers take turns to each tell, in words, sounds or images, a significant real-life story. Created in 2014, based on an idea from the United States, the show is a hit.

2/ The film concert

The association of the seventh art and music played live. This format, which is not new, is becoming more and more popular. A way to bring back some punch to cinema. There is nothing better to attract the attention of young and smaller spectators. To attract new audiences, the most prestigious theaters use and abuse this immersive format: “The Lord of the Lambs” at the Salle Pleyel, “The Batman” at the Seine Musicale, “Titanic” at the Zénith, “Harry Potter and the deathly hallows” at the Palais des Congrès, etc.

3/ Conference concerts

When explanations reinforce the sound! The concert-conference is performed in front of an audience of enthusiasts. The conductor then takes the floor to decipher, comment on the work of a composer, a technique, a musical movement, give anecdotes or an analysis... The musicians then follow up with extracts. If it is brought up to date by ensembles like that of Arts Florissants, the format has existed for a long time.

4/ At the edge of the plateau

Several theaters and festivals are bringing meetings on stage back into fashion. The show team sits at the edge of the stage and invites the spectators to discuss the piece that has just been performed. In Paris, the “Open Space” dance festival takes the experience a step further since the shows presented are short extracts from future creations. These representations of work in progress are followed by fruitful exchanges between the public who can give their opinion.