Rituals, not instructions
Visits to immersive theatre in Paris, to see how others hold an audience.
That week we went to see how others hold an audience: Le Grand Hôtel des Rêves, and TOI, an immersive personality test by Moir. We paid close attention to thresholds, costumes, hosts, and the moment when a visitor stops being a visitor.
We also came back to psychology. Michael shared his writing on belonging, including on Maslow and the Blackfoot. Out of that came a simple realisation: you cannot have this experience without the participants. If the work is about how people bring belonging to each other, it is deeply relational. It can’t just be streamed and understood.
Zéphir also had a conversation with Joanna Riquett about ritual that gave us a set of principles we still use.
Other ideas from the week: a mindful train carriage, a bus whose destination you don’t know, a barge. And the Regards connectés exercise, where two people hold eye contact for a long time. After how long does the experience begin?