Orchestrating Child-Parent-Performer Collaboration in a Multisensory Interactive Theatre for Preschoolers

Abstract

We present Go to the Farm, a multisensory interactive theatre experience designed for preschool children, where children, parents, performers, and responsive technologies jointly shape an unfolding narrative. Deployed across 21 live performances with over 200 families, the system combines full-body interaction, projection mapping, tactile props, sound and scent cues, and performer improvisation. Drawing on video observations, field notes, semi-structured interviews with 21 families, and performer reflections, we examine how participation was coordinated among multiple actors in a co-present, technology-mediated setting. We identify three coordination tensions: calibrating sensory engagement across children with diverse developmental readiness, negotiating child agency through parental mediation, and maintaining narrative coherence while adapting to child-led improvisation. We discuss design considerations for embodied collaborative systems that support early-childhood participation, adult mediation, performer orchestration, and the reconfiguration of educational roles in public learning settings.