Coriolan/us and the Limits of ‘Immersive’

Abstract

Filmer argues that the labels ‘immersive’ and ‘site-specific’ are unhelpful in describing what it is that works of theatre and performance do. Analysing National Theatre Wales’ 2012 production of Coriolan/us, directed by Mike Pearson and Mike Brookes, Filmer suggests that the real and meaningful differences between works variously labelled as ‘immersive’ or ‘site-specific’ exist in the nature of their critical and conceptual address to their location, to existing models of practice, and to differing dramaturgical logics. Filmer suggests that the concepts of location and orientation might help avoid the creation of ever-expanding critical categories and instead focus us on articulating what it is these works generate and disclose and the specific means by which they do this.