Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Roby Johnson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Roby, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Immersive theater has been really interesting to pick up because it really is grounded and practice, meaning that theory can only get you so far–it is the act of experiencing the creative and operational processes that you actually learn what works and what doesn’t. I’ve learned what I have so far by participating in different productions that were very distinct in role, execution, and creative vision from each other. One of the opportunities of immersive theater is that there’s more room for an all hands on deck mentality, so there isn’t as much pigeonholing of expertise and there is less of a hierarchy in creative production and operations than what you might find in more traditional theater or other entertainment. While I think that there is a specific time and place for the idea of learning by getting thrown into the deep end, I have found that some of my best and most serious lessons have come from figuring things out in the spur of the moment or having to devise a creative piece or process when the ground feels shaky. In addition, I think that my knowledge of immersive audiences really stems from hundreds if not thousands of hours of observation of how people move through a space and interact with it.

I really wish that I had previously given myself more grace to make mistakes and, more importantly, to not make everything perfect or even 90% perfect–just “enough.” I’ve often shut down in overwhelm because of insane expectations I was putting on myself. The reality is audiences will often fill in gaps, it is better to work with something and edit it rather than nothing, and actually doing something allows you to move forward whereas painstaking perfection locks you up. In addition, just like any creative practice or professional work, shit just takes time. There are some lessons you just can’t rush. I thought I knew that, but I didn’t really notice the subtle pressures I was loading onto me to have the perspective of someone more practiced.

In terms of skills in immersive theatre, a lot of folks will often speak to creative process but not really speak to actual analysis of how shows went and even changed over time. There’s a tendency to focus on development to execution instead of editing and audience feedback. So, here are some important skills that I found really made me a unique kind of expert that people often ask me about:
-The ability to notice patterns of audience behavior and think through why people are acting the way that they do.
-The direct ability to ask for feedback from those audience members as well but realize that feedback is about the overall composition of a pool of opinions and not just a handful.
– It’s so important to recognize when something is not working even if it is treasured, whether it be a certain way of doing things behind the scenes or a certain element of a show that people are experiencing. Sometimes it’s good to cut something out entirely, other times there are actually small ways of tweaking something that have a really outsized impact.
– Lastly, take staff and colleagues very seriously. Of course feedback and insights from colleagues are incredibly important and they can reveal so many ideas or perspectives that we would never have considered before but I feel like quite a few creatives know that. What I see far less often acknowledged is the fact that the lowest rung of staff, the people actually running the damn shows, often have the greatest insights as to the actual experience people are having and not the theory of what experience people are having. Consistent, direct feedback with operations and tech folks and an openness to changes/tweaks/edits makes immersive experiences better, period.

Here are obstacles I dealt with framed as lessons, because oh boy, did I learn some hard lessons when those lessons could have been easier with foresight:
-Pragmatism is great for execution, not the beginning of the creative process.
-There will absolutely be times when things go wrong, so learn how to adapt, stay calm, and act decisively.
-It is not failure to struggle to produce and work under the crushing effects of late-stage capitalism; it is only failure to over-promise and not follow through or not recognize one’s needs and limitations.
-Finally, I’d say that you really can’t tie your self-worth and identity to what doesn’t come to fruition or what work you don’t get– I invested too much time throwing myself at job opportunities that would make me a salaried creative professional when I really should have just been creating my own stuff and meeting new people.

Roby, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Roby Johnson, and Im a fabulously queer immersive theatre practitioner that somehow stumbled into this line of work and quickly made it a passion. Though I was training as a dramaturg for traditional theater, I found that immersive theater married my love of escape rooms, video games, theater, and just really freaking cool storytelling and I never looked back. I started out assisting productions, doing spots of acting, and some creative producing, then eventually headed operations for an extremely noteworthy immersive show, The Nest in Los Angeles, CA. Upon transferring that show over to new ownership, I decided to leave and pursue my current goal of developing my own immersive production.

Though I am producing my own show, I’m still open to collaboration. So, I’ve done some consulting and play-testing, and I’m also available for creative producing and staff management. With my extensive experience in day to day operations and upkeep of shows, I’ve gained a lot of valuable insights into audience behavior, puzzle design, experience design, and operational systems for the lifespan of a show and not just its creative development. I’ve revamped audience onboarding processes, retooled staff training and operations, modified immersive interaction points and puzzles to be more intuitive/reduce frustration, as well as solve plenty of fires and emergencies on the fly.

I’m really proud of not just the creative work I’ve done but how I successfully manage to keep a very beloved show operating for over three years and into the present through a culture of care: a care for the entirety of the audience experience from pre show to post show in a way that spread news of the production through word of mouth; a care for staff members and their ideas and issues they noticed that led to improvements over time with the way we ran the show and the business, keeping our production high quality internally as well as audience-facing; and a care for the production itself, maintaining its integrity over time even as it faced wear and tear, and making revisions to elements to smooth interactivity, eliminate pain points, and proactively anticipate future problems. Given the nature of in person immersive entertainment housing audiences that are often interacting with elements and environments regularly, it takes a lot of due diligence and attention to detail to have a production persist for a few months, let alone several years.

I would love others to know that I like being a bridge and a resource for others, and I just enjoy being a problem solver or knowledgeable person that helps other people. I like to do cool work while staying honest, authentic, and fun, so if that resonates with you as a potential partner, immersive colleague, or industry newbie, feel free to reach out.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Having gained experience across a variety of creative and operational roles in immersive entertainment, but specifically heading operations for three years on the THEA award-winning show, The Nest, my goal now is to build my own production from concept to execution. I’m currently at the beginning stages of the process, and I’m looking forward to applying all my insights on audience interactivity, accessibility, and multi-media storytelling. In particular I think that we are experiencing the second wave of immersive theater having learned many lessons from its roots, so I’m excited to push the boundaries of the genre more. I also hope to tell stories with a queer lens, and spotlight queer narratives and experiences through such an embodied, impactful art-form.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

When I was managing the operations staff at The Nest, we had a really fabulous and positive team morale. I have several pieces of advice that I think would apply well to many other teams:

-As a manager, minimize your power dynamic over your staff. While you still may have to hold responsibility at the end of the day, having your colleagues be more close to equals allows for more honest conversations and an organic culture of reciprocity.

– Take the concerns as well as the ideas of staff seriously. It never helps to be dismissive of a concern that a staff member has because oftentimes those concerns are very warranted. A small issue that someone brings up could lead to unearthing much larger issues with a product or systems in place, or a tiny tweak of how a team does something could lead to a major boost in team efficiency and/or audience experience. If you don’t encourage folks to speak up, then you’ll miss those crucial insights that lead to great impacts.

– Allow your staff understanding and flexibility, most people won’t take that for granted. Unfortunately, we are in a climate where businesses are demanding more and more of their staff members especially if those staff members are part time, such as expecting almost entirely clear availability. I took on a “we’ll make it work” mentality when it came to sudden emergencies, conflicts and scheduling, or just general wants and needs of staff regarding their hours. Oftentimes, the solutions were as easy as moving shows or people around. Rarely, did it ever mean cancelling performances, but more often than not our prospective audience members were totally understanding. This approach not only encouraged my staff to be very honest about their needs and limitations, but it also gave us a great deal of trust as a team. Because we were all willing to do our part to cover someone or pick up the slack when someone was having a bad day, We were constantly paying it forward with favors and reducing the amount of pressure on folks. This actually led to better on the job performance which in turn boosted audience experience by having us work better as a team and actually care a lot about the production itself.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robyjohnson/
• Other: Email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Spy Brunch LLC, Scout Expedition Co. LLC, Siobhan O’Loughlin