The Punchdrunk Encyclopaedia

by Josephine Machon

The Punchdrunk Encyclopaedia is the definitive book on the company’s work to date, marking eighteen years of Punchdrunk’s existence. It provides the first full-scale, historical account of one of the world’s foremost immersive theatre companies, drawn from unrivalled access to the collective memory and archives of their core creative team. The playful encyclopaedic format, much like a Punchdrunk masked show, invites readers to create their own journey through the ideas, aesthetics, contexts, and practices that underpin Punchdrunk’s work. Interjections from Felix Barrett, Stephen Dobbie, Maxine Doyle, Peter Higgin, Beatrice Minns, Colin Nightingale and Livi Vaughan, among others, fill out the picture with in-depth reflections. Charting Punchdrunk’s rise from the fringe to the mainstream, this encyclopaedia records the founding principles and mission of the company, documenting its evolving creative process and operational structures. It has been compiled to be useful to scholars and students from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, from secondary level through to doctoral research, and is intended for those with a fascination for theatre in general and immersive work in particular. Ultimately it is written for those who have dared to come play with Punchdrunk across the years. It is also offered to the curious; those adventurers ready and waiting to be immersed in Punchdrunk worlds.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theatre

310 pages, Paperback

Published December 19, 2018

Reviews

[Adrian Hon · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s an awful lot to learn from this book, whether you’re a fan of Punchdrunk or you’re deeply into immersive theatre. Their openness and willingness to explain their process is commendable, and something too rarely seen in any artistic field – if you want to learn about one-on-one interactions, or how they train performers, or safety in immersive settings, this is book to read. So, don't let the rest of my review dissuade you from reading this.

AND YET its unusual format (literally an encyclopaedia, with alphabetically-ordered entries) makes the book a lot less accessible than it could be. I get that this was done deliberately so readers would wander through the book as they might wander through a show, but frankly, it’s the wrong choice for a linear text – at least, assuming you want people to actually read and understand and share it. I can’t help but think this is the reason why I’ve heard so little about this, including from among friends who literally do immersive entertainment and theatre for a living.

Another issue is a lack of editing. Yes, there is an appealing rawness to the text and interviews and essays, but it means the crucial insights are often lost in the padding. Some of the essays seem a bit slapdash, to be perfectly honest.

Finally, the price of having such deep involving from Punchdrunk’s principals is that the book comes off as a bit of a hagiography, and certainly self-indulgent. There are occasional asides about things that didn’t work well, but we never hear much about them – more about what Punchdrunk intended to do and how they think it was received, rather than how others received it. This is tolerable to an extent – access journalism is a thing – but it detracts from a proper understanding of what makes their work tick.

So, why four stars? Because it still has a ton of detailed and sometimes delightful information about how Punchdrunk think and do their work.