An Operatic Game Changer : The Opera Maker as Game Designer and the Potentials of Ludo-Immersive Opera

Sammanfattning: How can live-performed chamber operas be conceptualized as immersive gameswith interactive features? This artistic study has resulted in a system model throughwhich degrees of immersion may be generated and analyzed from physical, social,and psychical stimuli. A differentiation of immersive modes has been made possi-ble by the framing of opera-making as game design. The findings indicate that so-called ludo-immersive opera could be developed into operatic chamber opera playfor self-reliant participants, constituting an intimate and alternate practice in whichdynamic game-masters may replace supervising directors. However, this practiceis entangled with the question of future training for operatic practitioners outsidethe mainstream opera format, and beyond both Wagnerian and Brechtian spec-tatorship. The shift from the traditional audience/performer relationship to a novelform of immersive interaction requires a new mind-set and preparation for operapractitioners, to encourage autonomy and active participation by individual visitors.Theoretically, the study connects recent innovations in opera to the aesthetic prin-ciples of the Apollonian and the Dionysian and positions ludo-immersive operain relation the these. The principles bridge immersion, opera, and game-playing,articulated by a reinterpretation of Roger Caillois’ taxonomy of play. The issue ofimmersion as an artistic aim in opera is highlighted. Moreover, artists’ and visitors’reciprocal participation in ludo-immersive opera is discussed in regard to its histor-ical context of operatic event-making and forms of presentation.The project explores the detailed consequences of perception and performance inchamber opera with ludic and immersive features, primarily inspired by live-actionrole playing. The main objective has been to investigate how operatic events can bepresented as immersive adventures rather than spectacles, and consequences thatthe integration of playing visitors in professional opera implies for artistic practice.In four operas created during the period 2016–2020, interventions and encountersbetween artists and visitors in musically driven situations framed by fictional set-tings have been staged and studied. The artistic researcher has iteratively beenengaged in action as opera singer, librettist, dramaturge, and director. Data from theresearch cycles include field recordings from the productions and reports from theparticipants in the form of interviews and surveys.