The Impact of Immersive Theatre on Audience Emotional Memory Formation

Thesis Abstract

Immersive theatre has emerged as a potent experiential form that potentially reshapes audience affective processing, memory encoding, and later emotional recall, yet empirical evidence linking immersive dramaturgy to emotional memory formation remains sparse and contextually uneven. This study addresses the problem by examining how immersive theatre environments influence the encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of emotionally salient memories among adult spectators, and whether these effects vary across production design features, performer-audience proximity, and narrative agency. The aim is to determine the extent to which immersive dramaturgy enhances emotional memory formation and to identify the mechanisms underlying this process. Specific objectives are (1) to quantify changes in self-reported emotional intensity and vividness of memory for immersive performances versus conventional proscenium productions; (2) to assess physiological correlates of emotional arousal (skin conductance level and heart rate variability) during performance exposure; (3) to examine long-term memory retention of narrative details at one-week and one-month intervals; (4) to explore the moderating roles of engagement with narrative agency, spatial immersion, and performer-audience interaction on memory outcomes; and (5) to integrate findings with theoretical constructs from levels-of-processing theory, arousal-mallocation frameworks, and schema-driven memory consolidation. A mixed-methods design will be employed. The quantitative strand adopts a quasi-experimental field study with two groups 120 participants exposed to an immersive theatre production and 120 participants exposed to a comparably produced traditional theatre piece, matched on duration and genre. Pre-exposure baseline measures will capture trait empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index) and prior familiarity with immersive formats. Immediate post-show measures will include self-reported emotional valence and arousal (Self-Assessment Manikin), recall accuracy of specific plot details, and physiological indices (wrist-worn sensors recording skin conductance and heart rate variability during scenes). Follow-up assessments at one week (n=240) and one month (n=180) will evaluate memory retention, recall quality, and spontaneous narrative elaboration through structured interviews and standardized cued-recall tasks. The qualitative strand will conduct in-depth interviews with a purposive sub-sample of 40 participants (20 from each condition) to elicit immersive experience narratives, perceived realism, embodiment, and episodic memory characteristics, analyzed thematically to elucidate mechanisms suggested by the quantitative results. Data analysis will employ multivariate regression to identify predictors of emotional memory strength, controlling for baseline empathy and prior exposure. Repeated-measures ANOVA will test temporal changes in memory accuracy and emotional recall between groups. Structural equation modeling will assess the mediating roles of physiological arousal, embodiment, and narrative engagement on memory outcomes, with model fit evaluated using CFI, RMSEA, and SRMR. Thematic analysis of interview data will follow the six-phase approach, with coding reliability established via intercoder agreement (Cohen’s kappa > 0.80). Triangulation will integrate quantitative and qualitative findings to construct a comprehensive model of how immersive dramaturgy enhances emotional memory formation, identifying thresholds of immersion and interaction that yield robust retention. Expected findings anticipate that immersive theatre will produce higher immediate emotional arousal and vividness ratings, stronger recall of emotional events, and better long-term retention of central plot elements compared with traditional staging. It is anticipated that higher levels of perceived agency, proxemic proximity, and embodied participation will significantly predict greater memory enhancement, with physiological arousal partly mediating this relationship. The study intends to contribute to knowledge by operationalizing emotional memory formation within theatre contexts, linking embodied performance practices to cognitive outcomes, and offering a validated model that integrates arousal, schema activation, and engagement as drivers of memory consolidation in spectators. Theoretical contributions include grounding findings in levels-of-processing theory and arousal-based memory consolidation models, while bridging performance studies with cognitive psychology and psychophysiology. Practical implications suggest that practitioners can optimize immersive design to foster meaningful audience recollection, inform curatorial decisions about audience reach and accessibility, and guide evaluative metrics for immersive projects. Limitations include potential self-selection bias and cultural specificity of immersion experiences; these will be mitigated through random assignment of show times where possible and careful documentation of production variables. Recommendations for future research include cross-cultural replications, longitudinal tracking of memory decay beyond one month, and exploration of genre-specific effects across varied immersive modalities.