<p>Is walking around a fake bathroom really “immersive” theatre, or is a theme park the more honest art form?</p><p><br></p><p>Ben sits down with Simon Kane, writer and performer whose work spans Shunt’s devised theatre, BBC radio comedy (John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme), and a lockdown project performing Shakespeare chronologically on YouTube. Simon unpacks what “immersive” should actually mean, why a seated audience isn’t a passive audience, and why “fun” is a serious artistic standard.</p><p><br></p><p>“If you’re making a space from scratch, why make a space that already exists?”</p><p><br></p><p>We also riff on Richard II as a story of celebrity collapse, the strange distance of voice work compared to stage acting, and how to stay creatively intentional when algorithms would rather you just hit Next.</p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.thendobetter.com/arts/2026/2/14/simon-kane-performing-shakespeare-on-youtube-immersive-theatre-and-why-fun-matters" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Transcript: https://www.thendobetter.com/arts/2026/2/14/simon-kane-performing-shakespeare-on-youtube-immersive-theatre-and-why-fun-matters</a></p><p><br></p><p>We cover:</p><ul><li><p>Story-first acting: unlocking Richard II by changing the character</p></li><li><p>Devised vs scripted: how Shunt builds worlds, and what audio comedy demands instead</p></li><li><p>The “immersive” fallacy: when you’re just walking around a set</p></li><li><p>Clowning, refusal, and the myth you must always say yes</p></li><li><p>Escaping autoplay: consuming culture on purpose</p><p><br></p><p><br></p></li></ul>