Shows to get into... literally!

Your guide to the best immersive events this season

If you enjoy your Perth Festival shows with a slice of interactivity, consider this is your guide to the best immersive events this season. Across music, theatre, art and community events we've got all your bases covered.  

We’ll take you from intro 101 to fully immersed in this friendly guide. Scroll away and take the participation plunge this summer!

1. INTRO 101

I like shows with interaction, but I don’t want to be put centre stage! 

Head to Patch’s Lighthouse for a light and sound wonderland, perfect for the young and young-at-heart. Stroll through three interconnected theatres at UWA that have been completely transformed into interactive rooms of discovery!

Explore our opening extravaganza Escape, hosted over two nights across various venues in Fremantle Port. Watch the quays, docks, warehouses and Bathers Beach transform with music, light installations, performances, food, ceremony and mayhem! 

This year A Day of Ideas is a conversational collage, a cultural mix of ideas that focuses on the theme At Sea. Across the three separate 'blocks' of topics immerse yourself as little or as much as you like! Either way you’ll be sure to hear fresh perspectives and innovative ideas across the day’s program of fun events.

Love a good quiz night? Get your group together for I Liked It ... BUT. Grab a drink and enjoy some tunes with Joel and local musicians for a Pub Trivia Night about the craziest, weirdest, most confusing stuff he’s ever had to see on and off of a stage.

2. TAKE IT UP A NOTCH

Immerse me a little more so I get a bespoke experience

Audiences at The Smallest Stage have a choice between interactive and non-interactive tickets. Each performance asks a parent and child to be brought up on stage to engage with the story, with every show bringing fresh reactions and responses. This autobiographical story has been thoughtfully crafted for theatre-lovers of all ages, illustrating creative methods to show how we connect to children through hard times. 

If you’ve never heard of Perth-born artist Ta-ku, you’re about to become one of the thousands who adore his beats and artistry. His new immersive musical journey Songs To Experience asks audiences to explore the historic Lawson Apartments at your own pace. Each room becomes a multi-level sensory tour, bringing to life a different song from his forthcoming debut album. 

For those that enjoy interactivity that also showcases your skills, you can’t miss We Hold You Close from York-based Yindjibarndi artist Katie West. The sensory experience hosted at PICA develops on a project first initiated with West’s family and friends along her home on Noongar Ballardong boodja, collecting plant materials along the bilya. Throughout the course of the exhibition visitors add their handiwork to the gallery walls, creating an ever-expanding supportive structure. 

3. GIVE IT TO ME, DOC

You want 100% of the experience – hook it up to your veins!

Take the elevator up to the second floor at The Alex Hotel and check-in to The Sunset Lounge, a free night-spa experience unlike any other. Installations by artists Tarryn Gill and Benjamin Barretto are ready to bathe you in light and sound as you literally lie down in your hotel bed, with creatures easing you through an otherworldly dreamscape. Once your spa experience has finished, a light installation designed by Nemo Gandossini-Poirier awaits you at Shadow Wine Bar. Prepare to have your senses stimulated!  

Interactive performances don’t get more exciting (or delicious) as Daddy – an affecting exploration of life, love, identity and trauma. It’s intimate and powerful, described as an ‘under-the-skin experience’, from Wiradjuri dancer and WAAPA graduate Joel Bray. Prepare to glaze Joel in all things sweet and sugary as his trademark confection of conversation, dance and all-you-can-eat audience participation leaves you with a deadly aftertaste. 

Header image from Patch's Lighthouse cr. Mark Gambino