By: Martha Austin

Of all the things I imagine myself doing at 10 a.m. on a Saturday morning, taking an Immersive Theatre class in a brewery was not one of them and yet now I can’t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.

I was lucky enough to be able to take part in the Interactive Theatre workshop run by the Making Waves Film Festival in conjunction with immersive theatre director Joe Hufton. It was a fantastic experience during which I learned a number of new techniques, made connections, learned from industry professionals, and above all, had a lot of fun!

From professional actors to people just there for a laugh, 30 of us gathered together to learn the ins and outs of producing an immersive theatre experience. We warmed up our (somewhat rusty, in my case) improvisation skills by telling stories to one another based on things in the room. From dinosaur uprisings to portals in fridges, we heard it all.

After we were feeling sufficiently creative, we were split into groups to create semi-scripted scenes to guide an audience along a narrative journey. The storyline of the day centred around a gang preparing for the ultimate job (cue terrible mobster accents all round) so after a very important discussion on who would be on Team Weaponry and who would be relegated to Team Tech, we got cracking.

I have to say, it’s been a while since I’ve properly been able to play with a new concept. While initially somewhat depressing, Joe’s mantra of ‘whatever you make the first time will almost certainly be rubbish’ turned out to be shockingly freeing. Having permission to make something more than a bit rough around the edges and for that to be completely OK was something I think we could all do with a bit more of in life.

And, for me, that mantra turned out to be one of the key points of the workshop. Don’t waste time standing around wondering what it would be like if you tried something, just try it and see for yourself.

The Acting & Directing for Immersive Cinema Experiences workshop was part of a preparation process for Pompey Dogs, a live cinema screening of Reservoir Dogs (1992) at Staggeringly Good Brewery as part of this year’s film festival. You can find out more by taking a look at the event programme.