Letter of the month: immersive storytelling

It is interesting to compare Michael Coveney’s frustration with “immersive” theatre (September) to Mark Cousins’ eulogy to Christopher Nolan’s film Inception (August). Although visually stunning, Inception is a familiar spy thriller, and Cousins is generous to describe the plot as a “metaphor” for corporate espionage. The dream caper inside a business rival’s psyche is simply that: corporate espionage—a premise not unlike Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “dream holiday” in Total Recall (1990). If this is Hollywood’s attempt to keep hold of the videogame generation before they forsake cinema forever, good luck to them. Surely the best “immersive” experience is reading a great story.

David Booth, Liverpool