Graham Brown’s audience interactive dance works have become something of a staple in the Salt Lake City arts community. I first encountered his immersive theater when attending the 2017 production of SONDER at the Historic Eagle’s Hall in Downtown SLC. The atmospheric piece draws audiences into a winding drama delivered tantalizingly piecemeal. The work redefined dance theater, and demanded the audience’s attention and direct engagement.
Immersive art challenges audiences to confront their relationship with art, and their role in live performances. Gone are the days of sitting placidly in proscenium seating – SONDER announced the dawning of immersive storytelling that hybridizes dance, theater, song, and narrative.
Beginning with SONDER, Brown has cowritten his work with dramaturge Rick Curtiss. The two joined forces to produce the delicious Thank You Theobromine, which has evolved into The Chocolatier, a darkly enticing adventure through the duplicitous nature of chocolate and identity. Set to premier on March 13, 2020, the arrival of COVID-19 and social distancing requirements put a hard stop to SONDERimmersive’s chocolatey concoction.
However, no strangers to innovation, SONDERimmersive has set about redefining immersive art once again. In two weeks, the company is set to produce a show of Shakespearean proportions. Through Yonder Window, a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, will engage audiences in the tale of star-crossed lovers – from the safety of their own vehicles in a drive-through theater format.
I had the pleasure of talking with Brown about his upcoming work, as well as the old and new challenges of creating immersive art. Portions of this interview have been edited for clarity.
—Molly Barnewitz
Molly Barnewitz: Thanks for taking the time to chat with me, Graham! SONDERimmersive has become well known for its site-specific, "choose your own adventure" style dance and theater works. I wonder if you could give us some insight into what "Immersive" art looks like? What draws you to immersive art? Why is it important for you?
Graham Brown: There are a few things that draw me to immersive art. One simple reason is that I think dance specifically is best seen at close proximity. In class, in rehearsal, we are often not more than 20 feet away from the action where we can see; feel the motion. On a big stage I feel that some of that visceral experience is reduced.
I have always been drawn to space as an inspiration for performance. I love taking inspiration from a building, a room, a structure, or in [the case of Through Yonder Window] a gigantic parking garage. This work is always a partnership with unusual spaces.
dancers rehearsing for Through Yonder Window
When so much of our lives are digital, I am consistently drawn to live experiences. The challenge, the danger, the risk, the thrill, the intimacy, the connection made within physical, emotional performance in real time between performer and audience.
There is an empowered nature of experience for the audience in immersive work in that they have choice, and therefore everyone has their own unique experience. It becomes more than just a single show, but an entire world to experience, share stories, and revisit. There is also an intrinsic blurring between performance and audience.
As an artist it provides the opportunity/obligation to create not a single narrative/storyline/experience, but a whole world of characters, experiences, and perspectives.
To build on that – by design the work neutralizes "lead" characters, and elevates "supporting" characters. All characters live a full existence within the world of the show, and as per real life, everyone has a full story. So for example in this show, Romeo isn't any more important or compelling a character than Juliet's Nurse (who Shakespeare never even gave a name). By the way, that's the definition of the word 'sonder.'
Finally, I love the intense and broad collaborations involved: building/business owners, producers, arts administrators, carpenters, set designers, visual artists, writers, composers, actors, dancers; and then there are the collaborators specific to each show such as chocolatiers and zoo administrators to mention a couple of recent ones.
Have you always been interested in this kind of dance/performance art?
I've always been drawn to non-traditional styles of creating and presenting performance: improvisation, site-specific work, dancetheatre, physical theatre, abstract choreography for straight plays (pretty much in that chronological order). What I love about this immersive work is that it combines all of the above.
How has COVID-19 altered – or maybe expanded – your definition of immersive art?
More than anything it has challenged us in creative problem solving. When COVID went down we had to halt our show The Chocolatier (which will re-open as soon as it is safe) and go back to the drawing board. It was my creative partner Rick Curtiss' idea to do a drive-in show. That way we can bring audience into an environment, without having to leave a physical safe space.
Another result of COVID is that we've found ways to partner with organizations to actually make their offering to the community more COVID friendly. Specifically, we are creating immersive theatre works at the Hogle Zoo and the Dreamscapes immersive art gallery where we will control the audience's motion throughout the exhibits as an intrinsic part of the show. Audiences will see the full exhibit, have a unique immersive theatre experience, and remain within safe social distancing parameters.
courtesy of Graham Brown
Can you tell us a little about your upcoming show, Through Yonder Window?
The storylines are really Rick Curtiss at his best. He's taken the familiar and flipped it on its head in a way that is entirely unexpected, but makes complete sense. We have made big creative decisions regarding filling in all of the other characters, who exist in Shakespeare’s script largely to support Romeo and Juliet's stories.
As for the audience experience, they will be guided into a specific spot within the parking garage, transformed into the town of Fair Verona, where they will park, turn off their engine, and view the full experience. Depending on your spot, and where your eye is drawn, each person will have a different experience. The environment is large and open so whereas in our work audience's usually need to decide which character to follow into which room, this is more like a big fishbowl experience. That said, the cars are integrated into the performance in a way that creates very intimate and unique experiences.
Rebooting Romeo and Juliet in a garage setting gives me some West Side Story vibes. Do you feel like musical theater, which relies on the skills of dancers and actors, has had an impact on your aesthetic?
Not really, to be honest. But I will say that the work does toggle between realism and abstraction in a way that may be structurally similar to musical theatre. I think the aesthetic comparison would be that the acting is more filmic, and the movement is more post-modern, dancetheatre, or physical theatre based. And the motion between realism and abstraction is more fluid throughout rather than breaking out into a dance number.
In a similar vein, how did you and writer Rick Curtiss settle on a Shakespearean classic as the basis for your latest work?
When we decided on the drive-in idea, we also decided we wanted to get it up quickly in order to offer something to the public in this tricky time, so using a recognizable story seemed like a good idea. I jokingly suggested "something like... Romeo and Juliet" thinking that would be too obvious. Everyone actually really liked it though – it's super familiar, there is a lot of physicality, it is intrinsically quite dark and layered, and there is a lot of room to play with all of the characters. Rick particularly liked the idea because for years he has had ideas about different ways he wanted the story of Romeo and Juliet to play out... so little spoiler – while all of the familiar events do take place, the why's and the how's are quite altered from the original.
Prior to COVID-19, you were reworking your show The Chocolatier. I was lucky enough to get to go on one of the preview evenings, and I am so sad that a full audience wasn't able to experience the show. Are there any plans in the works for reopening the show?
Yes definitely. We are currently scheduled to re-open on July 31. Our audience has been so great to stay with us. The run was about one-third sold out when we had to pause, and most of them have stayed with us as we've had to delay and delay the opening. It's really hard to know if we'll have to delay again, but regardless, the show will definitely be happening whenever things are safe. In the meantime feel free to check out www.TheChocolatier.org, and you can experience the chocolate any time at www.EatChocolateConspiracy.com.
Through Yonder Window premieres June 4, 2020. Showtimes and tickets are available at ThroughYonderWindow.com. You can stay up to date with Graham Brown and SONDERimmersive by following them on Facebook and Instagram @SONDERimmersiveSLC.
Molly Barnewitz is a writer, comics enthusiast, and outdoor nerd based in Salt Lake City. Molly graduated with an M.A. in Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies from the University of Utah in 2016. Their thesis, “The Animal As Queer Act in Comics: Queer Iterations in On Loving Women and Nimona” underscores the potential for comics to portray LGBTQ+ identities. Molly works at Salt Lake City’s Sustainability Department as an outreach coordinator. They also serve on the organizing committees for Queer Spectra and Salt Lake’s Grid Zine Fest.