Sublime confusion in immersive performance and games

This study of the resposes of participants in Punchdrunk’s interactive performance theatre productions 2011-2014 reveals that affects normally considered negative (e.g. profound disorientation, confusion, and fear of failure) are framed as intriguing and even exhilarating by a majority of participants, and associated with corresponding motivation to learn, grasp and ‘figure out’ the challenges within the given environment. A subset of audience participants found the experience strongly aversive and where reasons were given, they were based on the same features that were framed as positive by the majority of participants, suggesting that the difference in reception is based on interpretative factors. Punchdrunk’s immersive theatre productions have often been compared to ‘real life computer games’ due to their narrative structure and the conditions for experience created by the sets, comprising in excess of 100 fully realised and interactive installation rooms