Theaterbeleving in het belevenistheater. De architectuur van het theatergebouw als context   voor de theaterervaring

PhD ceremony: Ms. M.L. Wilders, 11.00 uur, Aula Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Dissertation: Theaterbeleving in het belevenistheater. De architectuur van het theatergebouw als context   voor de theaterervaring

Promotor(s): prof. J.J. van Maanen

Faculty: Arts

Marlieke Wilders’ investigated the theatre experience in experience theatres. “Experience” plays an increasingly important role in the theater world, as well as in architecture, but also beyond in other domains of daily life, a development corresponding to the emergence of an experience economy and society. A new type of experience theatre was the point of departure to investigate the impact of the architecture of the theatre building. Using an audience survey, Wilders relates the visitor’s theater experience empirically to the visitor’s experience of the theater building. The study differentiates between theatrical experience created as a result of theatrical communication and theatre experience gained as a result of the theater visit in full. The impact of the building is discussed in terms of the various values attached to the larger theater experience. The conclusion is that there does not only exists a detectable link between the theatre building and the theatre experience (the evening as a whole) but also between the theatre building and the theatrical experience. In the experience theatre this seems to be caused by an enhanced process of theatrical framing and a different effect of the two-fold theatre consciousness in the experience buildings (enhanced level of absorption). Experience theatres magnify the theatrical experience: powerful experiences become stronger and weak experiences become even weaker. Furthermore, there is significant evidence suggesting that the social interaction and processing of the performance inside the theatre building increases the appreciation for the show itself and the evening as a whole.