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ABSTRACT
This article considers how the prolonged immersive storytelling experiences that theme parks provide have developed over time, with a particular focus on the role the individual guest can choose to take. Using examples from the Star Wars Intellectual Property developed for Disney Parks, and specifically Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser (an extended three-day/two-night immersive experience), I consider how the role and agency of the individual participant/guest has changed over time and opened up from rather passive, to much more engaged. I argue that recent developments in theme park land, attraction and experience design (including extensions made possible by digital media) have opened up different structures in the narrative, allowing guests the option to become protagonists in a story they have agency over. This significantly extends the notion of the templated ‘hero’ Joseph Campbell introduced as part of his hero’s journey framework and makes way for the guest as immersive protagonist.
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Alke Gröppel-Wegener
Dr Alke Gröppel-Wegener spent almost 15 years working at Staffordshire University in the UK, leaving her position of Associate Professor of Creative Academic Practice in summer 2023 to explore the world of storytelling (and travelling the world in real life). She is an award winning educator with a passion for designing and delivering outstanding workshops that explore the links between creative and academic practice, as well as integrating experience design principles into curriculum design, which she blogs about at www.tactileacademia.com. Her publications include ‘Critical Encounters with Immersive Storytelling’ and ‘Writing Essays by Pictures – A workbook for students’.