Touching is always a very sensitive issue. Personally, I agree with touching in a non-extreme maze IF there is constant surveillance of the actors. By this, I mean ents hosts who are concealed within the scenes to ensure the safety of both the guests and actors. If they get too carried away, they can be brought back in line by the host. But for me, touching means maybe a light brush with your hand or leading someone with your hand in theirs IF they agree. One experience was an "extreme" show and I allowed the team to go much further. But made them always ensure in their minds that they were considering the audience members' comfort, enjoyment and safety. No guest should be forced to partake and clearly, if they hate it and the actor's professional enough, they should, in theory, stop.
The thing is, scare mazes/immersive theatre are just full of so many intense and high emotions. I myself have had someone very happily interact with me in one piece and in another, I had someone break down. As soon as that happened, I ensured their safety, once they confirmed they were ok, I moved on. I hadn't even touched the female in question or directed any dialogue, eye contact or scare tactics towards her but had noticed on approach that she was clearly distressed.
Actors are ultimately there to heighten your experience, not hinder it. I have got very angry in the past with certain actors in a team who got very carried away with one group. The only way I can describe it is like a power overload that rushes to their head. It can quickly turn from fun to down right intimidation of a threatening kind. Now I'm not sticking up for the actors, but sometimes their characters can really get the better of them and they unintentionally go too far without realising - being in that environment is really tough for the actor and so demanding mentally and physically. Imagine being a deranged monster for 9/10/11 hours and hardly breaking out of character...you slowly live AS that character.
One of my key dilemmas whenever I am involved in an interactive piece is touching and, to be honest, I choose FAR less experiences in which touching is included. For myself, I think words, environment and good understanding of how to "attack" your experiencers via distraction techniques, team work etc is far more powerful than touching. Yes, sometimes touching is advantageous for a certain plot or creation, but sometimes it's something which can easily create more hassle than good.
The actors should follow some very basic and key steps to tell if an experiencer is willing to interact or not. It might sound tedious but it actually allows actors to easily gage people who are interactive and open to the idea...but the GP can also get too excited and it can turn into a two way street occasionally! They can get too carried away as well!
I remember in the last season of when Saw:Alive was all year round I happened to come across a delightful "actress" (she certainly wasn't one) who overheard me say to a very terrified friend that they were just actors and it wasn't real. She pushed me away from the group and made me re-do the maze 6 times...on my own and used the codename which meant the "actress" personally knew me as a family/friend member. Despite me explaining to every actor I didn't know her she continued to hold me by the scruff of my shirt and pushed me into set, into other actors, then into actor runs, onto the floor, onto a set (so she could act the scene out with me as the victim when other groups passed) and the list goes on. I love mazes but once I was finally out I had bruises and marks over me and went straight over to Guest Services...who said "strange, they should only touch you with the palm of their hand" and my response was rather colourful! This is why touching is a fine line because GS did nothing about it as it was "made aware to me before". I know what it's like to feel intimidated and actually unhappy in a maze because of some silly "actors" - it can really ruin your overall day and even future scare maze/interactive adventures.
