Highlights from the 2019 Denver Immersive Retrospectacle (Feature)
Denver correspondent Danielle Look recaps the event
The 2019 Denver Immersive Retrospectacle was created to tide over the Mile High community’s hungry appetite for a follow up to the inaugural 2018 Denver Immersive Summit last fall.
The Retrospectacle was emceed by the delightfully funny and charming David Thomas, otherwise known as Denver’s Professor of Fun, which was an obvious and appropriate programming choice.
The first half of the evening was a whirlwind of brief presentations from local icons in the immersive scene sharing their favorite events from the past year, as well as reflections on the current and future state of the infantile industry.
Charlie Miller, curator of Denver Center for Performing Arts’ Off-Center programming kicked off the evening by highlighting six of his favorite immersive theatre shows he’s seen in the past year, quantifying each with the number of performances and number of attendees. I was most pleased to see Control Group’s Aggregate Immateriality on the list — still one of the most talked-about events in Denver — and most mad at myself for missing Broken Bone Bathtub.
MO SPKX delivered a thoughtful and thought-provoking seven-minute spoken word performance for his presentation on art and installations. His observations on art were a work of art in and of themselves. Focusing on themes of inclusivity, equity and sustainability, he circled around the pure, raw and unfiltered creative energy of children, urging us all to invest time and money into the art community with the goal of making that art accessible to all.
Sarah Cai, co-owner and co-founder of Puzzah! Escape Rooms, highlighted three puzzle room companies who are leveraging technology to push the boundaries of the escape room industry. Puzzah offers fully-automated, reset free rooms and their technology adapts to the skill level of the players during game-play. ConTRAPtions exceeds expectations in terms of immersion and technology, while Rabbit Hole Recreation Services creates the “wow!” effect through the use of technology that blends into the theme of the room to create magical moments of surprise. (Ed. note: writer Danielle Look is the Company Manager at Puzzah! Escape Rooms.)
The Immersive Retrospectacle would not have been complete without thoughtful commentary from Andrew Novick because, as emcee David Thomas so eloquently put it, “Andrew loves so many things.” So many things, in fact, that he couldn’t be cornered into one specific vertical of the industry. Instead, he presented what he defined as the tenants of immersive: Constraint, Theme, Going Further, Vertigo, and Abandoned Spaces. (More on each of these tenants here.)
Before he wrapped up, Novick spent a few minutes talking about his friend and Denver punk scene mainstay Tom Banger. Novick distilled Banger’s vast and varied contributions to Denver’s cultural foundation down to this: D.I.Y. by necessity, not by design. Banger’s work in the 80’s was immersive by circumstance, meaning he never intended to make something immersive; it simply was. One locally famous example: going to the record store to buy painted animal bones that served as tickets to a concert that took place in an actual junkyard.
Novick pointed out the false expectations and high bar set forth when something is labeled as “immersive,” instead of simply letting it be immersive without giving it that explicit distinction. Banger happened to be in town for a series of events, so Novick invited him on stage for a fascinating, but brief, Q&A. When asked about the raw, raucous nature of his events, Banger replied that he has always found events to be highly curated by the organizers. His goal was to create something that could become its own thing with no expectations.
Dan Griner closed the first half of the program with a somewhat damning presentation that urged creators to consider all types of disabilities when designing immersive experiences. He compared the seating made available for handicapped people at an arena or theater to segregated seating on a bus. A bit extreme, perhaps. But also an interesting perspective with some validity.
He then brought up a video of the Autism TMI Virtual Reality Experience that was created to give you an idea of what it can be like to receive too much information inside your head.
Giving special consideration to these kinds of handicaps, Griner says, should be par for the course. “You don’t get extra points for being a decent human being,” he said, suggesting that accessibility and inclusivity should always be the baseline — the starting point — for the experience.
After intermission, attendees were treated to a fascinating deep dive with Jaako Stenros into the world of Nordic LARP, which pushes the boundaries of immersive form and content through a variety of themes and structures. His keynote presentation was full of information and inspiration for anyone interested in the creation of fictional worlds and alternate realities. Be sure to check out his numerous published books, many of which are free, if this is a topic that interests you.
I found the emotional aspects of LARPing to be most interesting and relevant to creators. For example, LARPing forces the player into a state of dual consciousness that creates a unique sensation. When you become your character, you get to do and say things you wouldn’t normally say and do. This can create a sense of cognitive dissonance, or be totally exhilarating.
Sometimes LARPers have what’s called “Type 2 Fun,” which means the emotions their character experiences might not be happy, “feel good” feelings, but they are meaningful to the story and character development, which is in turn what makes a LARP enjoyable. A similar concept to Type 2 Fun is the “Positive/Negative” experience, also called “playing to lose.” This means that sometimes characters will make decisions that the player knows will not end well for the character, but will ultimately progress the game in a positive direction.
Perhaps most intriguing of all is a concept called character bleed, which happens when the thoughts and emotions of a character start to inform the thoughts and emotions of the player. When someone lives a fictional life for many hours (sometimes several days), the line between real and imaginary actually starts to blur.
Many LARPs are book-ended with work-shopping on the front end (to ensure the proper mechanics are in place for a safe, comfortable and consensual experience) as well as a cool down/debriefing period at the end. The cool-down, Stenros pointed out, is an essential part of any LARP due to the ephemeral nature of the game. Because it is a first-person audience, no one else will ever know or experience that particular game. The players need to discuss the things that happened and the transformations they experienced with each other, because no one outside of the LARP will be able to relate or understand. The cool-down is usually, but not always, in the form of a party.
At the end of the night, “feeling” was the overarching theme of the program. Everything that was discussed related to feelings in some way, shape or form. One thing is for certain: immersive audiences are seeking a transformation. They are no longer content to passively watch a story unfold on stage; they want to be at the center of that story, experience the sensations themselves, and be given the opportunity to interpret those feelings on their own accord. Creators, then, are tasked with generating circumstances that provoke emotional shifts — creating the environment, the characters and the plot that will move them through and towards that sensation of feeling something on the inside.
Denver is certainly making a mad dash to that end goal, and few people in the city would argue against it. But it takes a village, and that means having the courage to share, collaborate and support one another in that endeavor — which was ultimately the Restrospectacle’s call to action and challenge to the community.
I’d say it’s safe to say: challenge accepted!
Learn more about the Denver Immersive Summit.
All photos by Denver Center for the Performing Arts & John Moore. See the complete album of event photos here.
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