David Byrne announces new immersive theatre experience show

nme.com:

David Byrne has announced details of a new immersive show.‘Theater Of The Mind’ is a collaborative stage production between Byrne and his friend Mala Gaonkar, who is a neuroscientist.

It debuts in Denver this summer on August 31 before wrapping on December 18.A statement said the installation will “take audience members through an immersive journey of self-reflection, discovery, and imagination, inspired by and grounded in neuroscience.” It goes on to describe it as “a visceral theatre experience inspired by neuroscientist experiments”.Attendees will be participants in sensory experiments intended to “reveal the inner mysteries of the brain”, rather than audience members.Gaonkar and Bryne said the installation is based on scientific experiments and research with scientists, and will make those attending question their realities.“The experiments and ideas of the labs we met, several of which we embedded in our narrative, seemed as engaging as any piece of theatre,” Gaonkar said in a statement.Byrne added: “For me, the broader implications that these phenomena have in our lives, our sense of the world and our sense of self is key.

We decided that a kind of narrative, the life of The Guide, told backwards, might be a way to connect these experiences to our daily living… and it might introduce an emotional connection as well.”‘Theater Of The Mind’ will see groups of 16 enter the exhibition show with a guide.

The exhibition will “[use] stories from our own lives to shape a narrative you’ll see, feel, taste and hear,” according to organisers, meaning each of the experiences will be different as they are informed by guest’s individual experiences.The result, according to organisers, will be that those who attend will “question.