Drama and architecture can both generate emotive responses from their audience and users, respectively, often based on varying events within a given narrative. Understanding parallelisms between drama and architecture benefits both disciplines and enriches construction and design.

Deconstructing Drama studies components of dramaturgy in architecture to comprehend overlapping dynamics and apply insights to the construction of an extended reality (XR) performance where the user becomes the protagonist. The performance spatialises stages of becoming in Jane Austen’s ‘Persuasion’, as an example of the Bildungsroman literary genre, through the lens of the architecture and philosophy of deconstruction as found in Bernard Tschumi’s ‘Manhattan Transcripts’ (1981) and Jacques Derrida’s theory of deconstruction.

As an example of immersive storytelling in XR, Deconstructing Drama aims to alter the perception of its users. Passive observers are turned into active participants and engage with new narrative exploration frontiers. The project combines technologies and creativity to create deeply immersive and interactive narratives.