Photo of Wrigley Field at midday today. Compare it to the photo a few days ago with about 10 people in it: the foreground is empty in this one only because there is a road there. The place has been crawling with people all day. The game was around 1pm. It is now midnight and people are still drinking. It’s not that pretty!! Traffic, normally flows well (5 minutes from home for me by bus) is at a stand still (25 or 30 minutes).
Show no. 2 for the night was a downstairs show at the iO theatre. It was 2 teams, the first 7 people (1 woman) did a fairly standard Harold. They locked themselves into a theme of killing, which didn’t leave them many places to go.
Then both of the evening’s teams did The Dream. Then Bullet Lounge came on. Tonight they were 5 men, 2 of whom were in last night’s Shakespeare troupe.
Their Harold was slightly less standard in format, but a Harold nonetheless.
Highlights included a buck’s party where the strippers didn’t turn up, so one of the guys put on edible undies and lap danced for the groom, and a group of lisping boys who dared each other to do things, culminating in putting a (former) haemophiliac’s face in a fan to see if he would clot. You had to be there, but I am pretty sure I have seen better improv. The play was fine, the ideas just weren’t that interesting for me.
Bill did say last week that he stopped playing Friday and Saturday night shows because the audiences wanted the kind of humour which he wasn’t interested in playing (balls, sex and gags, I guess).
Some of the audience were giggling all the way through. I am not sure why, but the thing which consistently gets a laugh is when the cast picks one cast member up and walks around with them. I can’t quite fathom it, unless it’s the risk that they will fall?
So I have finally made it to a 1030 show.
A couple of trends: almost every 2 person scene is face-to-face (both players side on to the audience). When I asked about it they said “connection is paramount”. It doesn’t always make it easy to see or hear what’s going on for audience members though.
And I think I have said before that I’m yet to see a solo scene set up. Different styles I guess.
Oh and one for Steve Johnston: every scene is modern day. And rarely anywhere but America.
Looking forward to Monday when we move on to scene work!!
