The Mindspace

In this innovative and original piece of immersive, improvised theatre, we are invited to step inside The Mindspace to talk to the personified projections of the human mind. By interacting with the six actors: The Seeker, The Seer, The Boatman, The Mother, The Soldier and The Man in the Chair, we must attempt, in ninety minutes, to put the issues of this mind at rest, leaving the mind and its characters in a happier state.

I wanted to stay in The Mindspace for longer to try and reconcile all issues.

Immersive theatre is a relatively new and inventive style of conveying action to the audience, and we had a say in every decision made by the projections in the mind. Working alongside the scientists at Morpheus industries, we were referred to as ‘shadows’ and had the ability to observe the action, chat to the characters one on one, and to be part of the action as a whole, piecing together the puzzle and attempting to fix this broken mind.

As we were able to speak with the actors one on one, it was clear that some had a much clearer vision in their head of their role within the piece than others, and their strengths and weaknesses were fully exposed to us. This meant that, as we reached the end of the piece and time was ticking away (as we could see on the clock projected onto the back wall), some relationships had developed between characters, but the full picture was still unclear. As this piece is fully improvised, it is of course difficult to tie up all loose ends, but this does make this performance seem like a work in progress. Timing was also an issue in this piece, but in the sense that I wanted to stay in The Mindspace for longer to try and reconcile all issues.

Overall, this was an exciting, individual and entertaining experience. Though there were some issues with this performance, the actors must be applauded for their bravery and their ability to stay in character at all times, creating a new world which actively includes the audience.