Abstract
Supportive fan bases in live events are more than casual viewers. They are the result of an active audience who have shifted the power dichotomy between producers and viewers via their range of participation. Drawing from scholars like Jacques Ranciere, Henry Jenkins, and Adam Alston, this essay uses Evermore Park in Pleasant Grove, UT, as a case study to review levels of engagement within spectatorship, and particularly how fandom can lead to audience takeover of immersive spaces. Evermore Park is a unique site that sits at the intersection of all three performance genres--immersive theater, park studies, and live action role-play. It is ripe for takeover as the producers encourage audiences to participate in increasingly liberal ways. This paper specifically focuses on the powerful position of the "fan" to contest producers and take over the space through their influence over the narrative, costume design, and online presence.
Degree
MA
College and Department
Fine Arts and Communications; Theatre and Media Arts
Rights
https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Haines, Elise Raycel, "Evermore Park: Audience Takeover and the Role of the Twenty-First Century Spectator in Immersive Experiences" (2020). Theses and Dissertations. 8517.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/8517
Date Submitted
2020-06-18
Document Type
Thesis
Handle
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd11259
Keywords
audience, fan, immersion, theme park, live action role-play, co-creation, takeover
Language
english