New Award-winning Immersive Show Provides Communal Spirit In Face Of Climate Change

Before We Slip Beneath the Sea, written and directed by Red Scare Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Cassandra Tse, has its premiere in Aro Valley Community Centre this October, allowing audiences a unique Immersive theatrical experience. Before We Slip Beneath the Sea has been produced as part of Tse’s creative writing PhD on Immersive theatre.

“Immersive theatre is different from traditional theatre in that the audience are actually inside the storyworld, rather than sitting outside and looking in,” says Tse. “In Before We Slip Beneath the Sea, audiences have the freedom to choose their own path to navigate the story, encountering and interacting with different characters. It’s a huge challenge, but there’s also so much potential for exciting storytelling.”

Before We Slip Beneath the Sea follows inhabitants of the fictional island off the north coast called Eglantyne. Here, the local community have gathered for the last time in the wake of an impending evacuation due to rising sea levels. When one community member decides to take a stand against the evacuation, the community is divided, long-buried tensions come to the fore, and everyone must decide how to cope with change, loss and forces far greater than themselves.

The play was awarded Winner of Best Play by a Woman Playwright and overall Runner-Up at the 2024 Adam NZ Play Awards, run by Playmarket and marks the latest Immersive production from Red Scare Theatre since 2021’s Battle Hymn, written and co-directed by Tse as part of the Red Scare Youth programme.

“In an Immersive show, the actors have to be able to switch back and forth between scripted scenes and improvisation with ease, allowing audiences to engage with the characters while never losing track of the story. It’s a really difficult ask, so I’m lucky that I’m working with such a talented group of actors,” says Tse. The rehearsal process involves working closely with assistant director Abby Lyons to watch all the scenes the actors perform simultaneously, allowing each audience member an entirely unique experience depending on who they meet. The cast consists of a mix of returnees from Red Scare Theatre shows like Charlie Potter (Gutenberg! The Musical), Ralph Johnson (Four Nights in the Green Barrow Pub) and performers collaborating with Red Scare for the first time (Hannah McKenzie Doornebosch, Craig Geenty, Megan Connolly, Helen Jones and Billie Deganutti).

“This show lets each audience member really take control of their own relationship to the play – whether they want to join the characters in conversation, hang back and eavesdrop, or simply float around the hall absorbing the atmosphere,” Tse says. “My hope is that whether or not audience members love or hate participatory theatre, they come away from this show feeling like they’re a part of the Eglantyne community.”

Before We Slip Beneath the Sea only has four performances at Aro Valley Community Centre on Saturdays and Sundays, 12-13 October and 19-20th October. 

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