We love all things theatre on the blog, whether it be a play, musical, or pantomime. Another genre we’ve not covered before is immersive theatre, designed to take the audience along for the ride, in a very different way to panto!
Secrets is coming back to Norwich’s The Garage soon, after a hit run a couple of years ago. This will certainly scratch that immersive theatre itch! We sat down with creator and director, Callan Durrant at Reflex Theatre, to explore what this show’s about and what audiences can expect.
What you’ll notice right away from the show’s website blurb is “Secrets” is it’s intended to be, well, secret! Durrant explains “when you go and see a show, you are kind of told what it’s about. You read about it, you go, ‘I may want to see that show, that’s really lovely, I’m interested in that’. From a Secrets perspective, we were like, well, what if we don’t tell you?! What if we challenge audiences to go here is something where you are going to walk into, you’re going to immerse yourself in it, but we want you to explore the story with us, so instead of you having an idea what’s going to happen beforehand, you’re with us on the journey, you’re exploring it as the actors are as if for the very first time.”
Durrant continues to add how he feels immersive theatre is less accessible within Norfolk. He mentions that Secrets offers the immersive theatre experience through ‘using the heart of the show’: acknowledging the importance of the narrative rather than relying on expensive sets and lighting.
It’s an interesting experience for the actors in the show as well. Durrant says “I imagine it’s what a football coach would feel like when they’re watching their players just play, and they’re at the sideline going “I hope this works.” Actors are empowered to take the audience on a journey, in a unique way depending on audience interaction. Durrant adds “that’s all we want”.
A curious note for this show is that there are two versions: an ‘easy’ version at Carrow House, and a ‘hard’ version at The Garage. These offer two different experiences for audiences, as Durrant explains: “We have a version of the show, which is in a place with no technology whatsoever, it is literally an office building, so we’re having to create as much as we can without making it janky. And then we have a theater space, which is lovely, but the barrier we have is that it’s a theater space rather than it being this custom-made space.” Durrant continues: “that’s what we’re playing with this time round, as well as playing with this wonderful story and this singular character study which I think is all I can reveal.” Keeping his cards close to his chest!
The main question then is what you as an audience experience from this show. Durrant explains: “There is always a reason, and there is always a message for every every show that we do and the question that we pose shows that, let’s say, Call Me John, for example, is obviously about intergenerational communities. It’s obvious because that is the thing that audiences will hopefully take away: a sense of shared communication and seeing the other side of the coin from a generational perspective. When it comes to Secrets 1, we asked people what makes people aspire, you know? What makes you dream? What makes you move forward in life?”
“I obviously can’t share the question on this particular moment [for Secrets 2], but there will always be something where it’s “This doesn’t stay here.” This doesn’t stay within this room. What you have done within this space in a fictional theater realm, that doesn’t stop here. If we start the clock from second one, from the moment you walk into this show, the clock doesn’t stop the moment you exit. The clock continues to go as you go through life. So the question we’re going to ask this particular round is how are you keeping to keep what we’re exploring in that show going? Because we can offer you a story that may inspire a conversation. What are you going to do to keep that conversation going with the people you love, you live with, that you work with?”
There you have it! A huge thanks to Callan Durrant for sitting down with us to shed light on Secrets. We can’t wait to experience the show, and you can book your tickets now!
Chris and Max
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