London Freeze videos and post-mortem

February 20th, 2008 • improvisation

Last week’s London Freeze offers up a few lessons for the Edinburgh edition.

The visual effect of the original US event seemed to come from the contrast between the realtively small number of frozen players and the steady flow of traffic (and, consequently, new “audience”) through Grand Central Station.

In contrast, Trafalgar Square was packed with people - with the seeming vast majority taking part in the freeze. So instead of frozen figures in a crowd, you get the image of individuals moving through a frozen mass. Consequently, the most striking moment in the video below is when the crowded square comes to a virtual halt.

I suppose the broader point is that the change in scale brings about a change in the audience dynamic - in Trafalgar Square, the “audience” were in the minority, out of the loop and out of the joke. It becomes less a spectacle for that audience, and more a collective event for the participants - inward facing, if you like. Not bad, still very cool, but decidely different.

Jump below the fold for a few more videos. Read more »

the big freeze hits the uk

February 10th, 2008 • improvisation

ImprovEverywhere’s latest project - bringing Grand Central Station to a halt, and applause from confused if delighted bystanders - has started to spawn UK copies. There’s a Great Trafalgar Square Freeze planned for London on 16th February, and an Edinburgh Waverley Big Freeze on 24th, both outside of the group’s global network.

ImprovEverywhere’s work doesn’t really fit the mould of many other improv companies. The scenes they stage - to generate public chaos and delight - are heavily structured and timed. The appearance of a spontaneous mass event (the hallmark of ImprovEverywhere’s work) requires careful planning.

It’s slightly more interesting to think of ImprovEverywhere’s work in the tradition of Augusto Boal’s invisible theatre - most infamously staged on the Paris Metro - though without the deliberate attempt to provoke and involve an unsuspecting audience. ImprovEverywhere’s pantless subway riding experiment in ten cities in January of this year would seem to look like spectacle rather than direclty political theatre (though, again, you could argue for a link to public happenings and the early work of The People Show).

It’s also true, though, that some of ImprovEverywhere’s “missions” do seem to invite a specific social comment. Read more »