Selfie & I – Interactive theatre as an immersive experience

Christiane Mudra’s theatre project “Selfie & Ich” (in English: “Selfie & Me”) confronts the audience up close with the reality of mental illness in a performance-driven society.

In the intimate setting of private homes in Munich, anxiety disorders, depression, alcohol addiction, schizophrenia and anorexia are made tangible and audible.

Here you can find the Website of the project and the directress.

What is Immersive Theatre?

Immersive theatre is a revolutionary form of performance art that breaks down the traditional barriers between the audience and the performers, creating a deeply engaging experience.

Unlike conventional theatre, where the audience passively observes from a distance, immersive theatre invites audience members to become active participants in the narrative. This art form often incorporates interactive elements, spatial proximity, and cutting-edge technology to craft a unique and immersive experience.

Immersive theatre pieces can take on various forms, from site-specific performances that transform everyday locations into theatrical stages to virtual reality experiences that transport participants to entirely new worlds.

The hallmark of immersive theatre is its ability to blur the lines between reality and fiction, drawing audience members into a new and imaginative realm. By engaging multiple senses—through sound, light, and touch—immersive theatre creates a memorable and thought-provoking experience that resonates on a personal level.

Why? – Making the invisible crisis of our time visible: Pressure to perform as a social norm

In a world characterised by permanent self-optimisation, mental illness is often considered taboo. Happiness and performance increasingly define personal value; social media further intensify this pressure.

Those who do not fulfil these requirements quickly find themselves socially marginalised. At the same time, the number of mental illnesses is steadily increasing. One in three people in Germany is affected at least once in their lives – but there is still uncertainty, shame and stigmatisation when it comes to dealing with it.

The pressure to perform has a mysterious effect on people’s behaviour, reinforcing social norms. As an audience member in this societal performance, active involvement and special considerations are crucial to enhance the overall experience and address mental health issues effectively.

The invisible isolation behind the appearance of hearing

Many affected people suffer silently and unrecognised. Performance-orientated norms make it difficult to deal openly with mental health problems. Depression, anxiety or addiction are hidden behind staged images and smiles.

The project aims to draw attention to precisely this hidden isolation. By incorporating audience participation, the project involves the audience in the narrative, making them integral to the performance.

How? – Intimate Insights Through Spatial Proximity, Direction, and Innovative Technology: private Flats as the Stage for the Kunstkopf Microphone

One of the defining features of immersive theatre is its use of spatial proximity and direction to foster a sense of intimacy and connection. By staging performances in private flats, the “Selfie & Ich” project creates an environment where audience members are drawn into the narrative, experiencing the performance up close and personal.

Instead of a traditional theatre stage, “Selfie & Ich” takes place in private homes in Munich. In small groups, the audience moves through authentic-looking living spaces and experiences the emotional reality of the people concerned.

This setting eliminates the distance typically found in traditional theater, allowing audiences to engage more deeply with the story and characters.

The creative process involves audience participation as a key element, actively engaging them in shaping the performance. This active role of the audience breaks traditional boundaries and allows for a unique collaborative interaction between the audience and the creators, thus redefining the theatrical experience.

The use of artificial head stereophony, sounds, and psychoacoustic effects further enhances this immersive experience. The Kunstkopf microphone, a type of artificial head stereophony, simulates the way sound is perceived by the human ear, creating a realistic and immersive audio experience.

The chosen proximity forces the audience into direct confrontation and prevents distanced watching with headphones. The technology of the artificial head audio play enables an immersive listening experience by simulating spatial sound perception and thus activating the so-called ‘head cinema’.

This technology allows audience members to feel as though they are part of the performance, with sounds and voices circling around them, creating a sense of presence and immediacy.

Innovative technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality can also be integrated into immersive theatre, offering new dimensions of engagement. These technologies can create fully immersive environments that captivate the senses and draw audience members deeper into the narrative.

By combining spatial proximity, innovative audio techniques, and cutting-edge technology, immersive theatre offers a powerful and unforgettable experience.

The Evolution of Immersive Theatre

Immersive theatre has a rich and diverse history, with its roots tracing back to ancient rituals and ceremonies that sought to engage participants on a profound level.

However, the modern concept of immersive theatre began to take shape in the 20th century, influenced by avant-garde artists and theatre practitioners like Antonin Artaud and Bertolt Brecht, who sought to break away from traditional theatrical conventions.

The 1960s and 1970s saw a surge in experimental and avant-garde theatre, with companies like The Living Theatre and The Performance Group pushing the boundaries of performance art.

These pioneers incorporated interactive elements and immersive storytelling into their work, challenging audiences to engage with the performance in new and dynamic ways.

The evolution of immersive theatre continued into the 1990s and 2000s, with the rise of site-specific performances and the integration of innovative technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality.

Companies like Punchdrunk and Third Rail Projects became renowned for their immersive shows, blending elements of dance, music, and visual art to create multi-sensory experiences that captivated audiences.

Today, immersive theatre is a thriving and ever-evolving art form, encompassing a wide range of styles and approaches.

From virtual reality experiences that transport participants to fantastical worlds to site-specific performances that transform everyday spaces, immersive theatre continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in performance art, offering audiences unparalleled levels of engagement and immersion.

Artificial head stereophony, sounds and psychoacoustic effects for maximum immersion in immersive storytelling

Special 3D audio recordings, in which the microphones are integrated into the auricles of the dummy head, were used to enhance the emotional impact and make inner monologues and circles of thought spatially tangible.

These voices circle around the audience, making the perspective of those affected directly comprehensible. In addition, targeted psychoacoustic effects, such as structure-borne sound, reinforce the immersive experience and trigger specific physical and emotional reactions.

This immersive experience can be likened to a dark ride, involving guided, narrative journeys with a sense of unpredictability and participant engagement.

What? – Education, empathy and social change: openness instead of fear of contact with artificial head stereophony and audience participation

The aim of the evening is to break down prejudices and promote social acceptance of mental illness through immersive experiences that highlight the transformative impact of personalized and interactive theater. Instead of mere information, an emotionally tangible understanding is created that goes far beyond rational education.

The audience is emotionally involved without being overwhelmed. A leader in the arts and media industry has the responsibility to design and lead such experiences in order to achieve a deep understanding and a lasting impact.

Learning from those affected as listeners

Christiane Mudra conducted intensive interviews with those affected and condensed these authentic accounts into vivid, fictionalised characters. She speaks the language of those affected herself, dispenses with pathos and voyeurism and shows them as ‘experts in their own situation’.

In this way, she succeeds in making mental illness understandable, promoting empathy and enabling genuine encounters at eye level. This approach is akin to immersive theater, a dynamic performance art form that transforms audience members from passive viewers into active participants.

Arnold Marquis, known from the innovative dummy head production ‘Demolition’, shows how important personalities can be in radio play production.

Social change through emotional understanding

At the end of the evening, the audience left the flats moved, agitated and at the same time deeply informed. The awareness of how important empathy and inclusion are for a more social and humane society is sustainably strengthened.

Attending an immersive theatre piece requires comfortable clothing and footwear due to the active nature of the experience, which often involves movement and engagement throughout the space.

Selfie & Ich sends a clear signal in favour of more understanding and against the pressure of a social norm that threatens to isolate people.

Klaus Krüger, who worked as a sound engineer on the innovative dummy head radio play production ‘Demolition’, which was celebrated as a sensation at the 1973 Funkausstellung in Berlin, shows how important technical ability is for emotional experiences.

Press response to “Selfie & Ich” an artificial head radio play

The project “Selfie & Ich” by Christiane Mudra has received enthusiastic reactions in the press.

• Arte Journal praised Mudra’s intensive research work: the author listened carefully and created four fictional characters who speak clearly and reflectively about their illnesses.

• Patrick Wildermann from the Tagesspiegel emphasises that Mudra’s 3D sound collages touch the viewer deeply. The choice of private homes as a performance venue makes it clear that mental illnesses do not only exist behind hospital walls, but are part of everyday life.

• Yvonne Poppek from the Süddeutsche Zeitung describes the evening as clever and haunting. The strength lies in the fact that Mudra gives those affected an authentic voice and moves the audience emotionally without forcing them into unpleasant consternation.

• Amelie Sittenauer from the TAZ also emphasises the direct, intense experience and acknowledges that Mudra critically questions the way society looks away when it comes to mental health.

• Mathias Hejny from the Abendzeitung particularly emphasises the sophisticated 3D sound design and the in-depth examination of the stories of those affected. The production is intense, unusual and particularly moving.

• Sven Ricklefs from B2 Kulturwelt describes the performance as an impressive theatre experience that makes the psychological effects of a meritocracy tangible and leaves a lasting impression on the audience.

I was particularly pleased to be able to make selected excerpts from the Kunstkopf radio play available for 3D audio streaming on the radio and for the podcast.

WDR has played a central role in the development of Kunstkopf stereophony and promoted innovative techniques for creating a spatial sound experience.

Insight into the immersive theatre piece: voices of the protagonists in Kunstkopf stereophony and radio play

The trailer for “Selfie & Ich” already impressively conveys the emotional impact of the theatre evening. Four fictional protagonists provide deep insights into their thoughts and feelings, characterised by fear, shame, self-doubt and social pressure.

Perfection pressure and addiction as a radio play story: the creative process

A character tells of constant physical and mental overload, palpitations, insomnia and panic attacks, combined with obsessive perfectionism. The result: a vicious circle of anxiety and alcohol addiction, shame and aggression, culminating in a breakdown in hospital.

3D audio plays can help to create vivid images in the listener’s imagination by using voices and sounds to create a ‘cinema in the mind’.

Depression, fear and dehumanisation

Vivid reports from historical patient files underline the brutal stigmatisation of the mentally ill. Drastic measures such as electroshock therapy and incapacitation reveal how long attempts have been made to forcibly ‘cure’ mental suffering.

This historical dimension illustrates the decades-long taboo and systematic exclusion of those affected in a mysterious way that influences people’s behaviour.

Life between medication and the pressure of normality

Another character talks about her experiences with neuroleptics: no joy, no tears – just emptiness. At the same time, the pressure to ‘function perfectly’, hiding the illness and leading a double life.

The demand to conform and appear ‘normal’ is an additional burden and reinforces the feeling of being ‘worthless’ as a person.

Loss of control and obsession with perfection in eating disorders

Anorexia is also addressed: Control, obsessive rituals and permanent pressure to perform become the reality of life. ‘Love through performance’ is exposed as a toxic belief pattern that inevitably leads to ruin: The more perfect the outer appearance, the greater the inner emptiness.

The great power of “Selfie & Ich” lies in these unsparingly frank insights – they make mental illness tangible, generate empathy and encourage us to critically scrutinise social norms.