🎭Shakesprov

Flow

1. Opener: the monologue paints the world

A performer asks the audience for a suggestion, and the audience gives one. The performer does a monologue about that topic, and the monologue sets up the scene for the rest of the performance. Then everyone goes to the sides.

2. Act I — also called beat 1, the long scene

Someone with a good idea about the monologue initiates a scene with someone else. The other performers continue the scene. A conflict concerning the topic presents itself to the protagonist. Once that happens, the act ends: someone claps.

3. Spin-off scene — a reaction to the beat

Anyone with an idea plays a spin-off scene: a pun or a one-liner, a game, a really short scene, and the like. A game is a repeating pattern that gets the laughs. Such a scene relates to the world, a character, or the topic of the previous long scene, but it does not necessarily advance the plot. Then everyone goes to the sides.

4. Act II — also called beat 2

One or more people continue the plot from Act I. Rising action escalates the conflict. Right before the climax the scene ends: someone claps.

5. Poem

Every character makes a haiku — a three-line poem. Performers should have been thinking of the haiku while performing Act I and Act II. The haikus should relate to the world that has been established.

6. Spin-off scene

Played by the rules of step three.

7. Act III — also called beat 3

One or more people continue the plot from Act II. The climax and the dénouement happen. The protagonist experiences some change and makes a proclamation. Once the proclamation is made, the scene ends: someone claps.

8. Spin-off scene

Played by the rules of step three.

9. The protagonist's speech

The protagonist comes forth and makes a speech to the audience. That ending breaks the fourth wall, and in this form it is mandatory.