Filled with intrigue, glamour and mystery, Brisbane Immersive Ensemble has brought theatre and Cluedo together to create an experience unlike any other. With its vision of creating a unique interactive theatre experience, Brisbane Immersive created its show Cluedo, which brings to life the glamour and mystery of the board game. The audience is encouraged to interact with the characters to help the detectives figure out which one is the murderer.
The Brisbane Immersive team did not initially come together to create immersive theatre, rather the idea came from a lack of affordable traditional theatre venues. Company Director Ben Lynskey said “Our use of immersion comes largely from necessity. Where else are we meant to create work besides non-theatre venues? How could we not utilise the architecture we have? When performing amongst the audience, how can you not enrol them in the play with you? Why shouldn’t they influence the action? It is our passion to create a world with detail and colour and to share it with the audience.”
From there, Artistic Director Xanthe Jones explained how the team set out to create a show that would be both immersive and interactive. “When brainstorming what show to do, we knew we wanted a campy, salacious, interactive experience for the guests. We thought; “How about a game that they can play with the characters?” The next step was; “How about a game they can play using the characters? Voila! Cluedo! The Interactive Game.” Rehearsals took the Brisbane Immersive team two months in which they had to become master improvisers. “The actors have […] to remain in character for over three hours, improvising constantly in conversations with guests.”
Being an interactive show, audience participation is essential in transforming the show into such a unique experience. “It is incredible how the audience changes from being timid and unsure of whether or not they are even allowed to talk to the characters, to becoming friends or arch enemies, and screaming out for justice as the Inspector hauls the killer off to jail.”
The future for Brisbane Immersive contains new interactive shows, and more runs of Cluedo. “We have so many ideas about future shows that we are keen as mustard to get started on.”
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