in-depth

      Project xx1 is an organization formed by a stable group, that develops ad hoc collaborations for each new creation, according to the specific needs and objectives. It is active, under different names (e.g. Amaranta, Orma Fluens) since 1999. The project changes its name to xx1 in 2017.

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      Project xx1 aims at the exploration of performance in its most contemporary forms. In these first years of the XXI century, we are witnesses to a theatre rebirth as an artistic form capable of engaging audience personally and stimulating them through all the senses. This rebirth is called “Immersive Theatre”, a theatre that you cannot enjoy sitting on a comfortable seat - but that has to be lived fully. In this way, the spectator is getting an exquisitely active role: invited to explore, to get curious, to chase, to get immersed completely in an experience that each time is unique, as the theatre tradition always called for.

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      Immersive experiences develop opportunities that every theatrical form always had: inviting the audience to create their own path through the artwork; creating an embracing parallel world where each one can choose how to live the experience; stimulating multi-sensorially and touching deeply inside. The value of this performing art consists in making it happen in very different ways, more accessible and varied than the classical one. Indeed, immersive experiences can offer different ways of fruition: from free-roaming, where the audience is free to move and explore spaces and actions by themselves; to more playful experiences in which gamification mechanisms are tied with dramaturgies; to audio-guides where the action lives mainly in the spectator; to participatory and interactive theatre experiences. The immersive experience, in this sense, features a richness that is easy to find in other experiences: the complexity of a book, the atmosphere of a movie, the engagement of a video-game and the sensuality of traveling.

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      Immersive experiences, affecting the relationship between people within the performing context, are an eclectic tool that can be used also to fulfil social, educational, and training objectives.

HERITAGE

Many inspirations guide the practice of Project xx1. Find below some of our main references.

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* Jerzy Grotowski – Paratheater, Theater of sources, Art as a vehicle.

* Punchdrunk and their research on immersive theatre.

* The Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards. Both groups experiences: Focused research on Art as a vehicle e Open Program.

* The concept of active culture of the New World Performance Laboratory.

* The concepts of scenic writing and site-specific performance. Some experiments of the “critical directing” movement (e.g. Luca Ronconi).

* Josephine Machon's writings (Immersive Theatres above all) and Gareth White's writings (Audience participation in theatre above all).

* The Socìetas Raffeallo Sanzio, specifically for their Scuola Sperimentale di Teatro Infantile (1996/97).

* The Teatro de los Sentidos of Enrique Vargas.

* The ideas of Eco, Bourriaud and Ranciére about artistic fruition.

* The experiences of role-games and video-games.