Experience Theatre Project immerses audiences in stories * Oregon ArtsWatch

"The show - still one of the most memorable I've ever experienced - took the audience through a series of spaces and theatrical encounters, thrusting us inside the action in a manner impossible to achieve in a conventional stage setting. 'This is incredible!' Stewart thought. 'This is the new theater.' She knew immediately that she had to explore this strangely compelling world of immersive theater."

"Soon, Stewart was making immersive productions herself with her Beaverton-based Experience Theatre Project. Last year, the company moved into a warehouse space next to a feed store in the nearby unincorporated Washington County community of Aloha, bordering Beaverton and Hillsboro. This month, it's mounting its penultimate production of its 10th anniversary season, the Irish-themed comedy Flanagan's Wake."

"The show offers audience members a chance not just to watch - but, if they choose, to participate in a comic wake for the fictional title character. And as its productions sometimes do for audiences, the company's immersion in its new neighborhood is also transforming it."

Alisa Stewart discovered immersive theater in 2014 when attending Shaking the Tree Theatre's Masque of the Red Death, an experience that fundamentally changed her artistic vision. Recognizing the transformative potential of this theatrical form, she established Experience Theatre Project in Beaverton, which has grown into a thriving company now in its 10th anniversary season. The company recently relocated to a warehouse space in Aloha, Washington County, where it creates participatory productions that invite audiences to actively engage with the performance. Stewart's artistic journey began in Alaska, where she studied multiple instruments and performed in choir, eventually choosing theater over music during her undergraduate years at Oregon State University.

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