This is a try for a type identification in improv theater on stage. It is difficult to seperate them (and sometime to name them). Often they fit in more than one category. I tried to avoid the terms shortform and longform as it is used differently. The order numbers has no intention at all.
1. Competitions
1.1. Team competitions, e.g. Theater Sports, Cage-Fight
1.2. Individual competitions, e.g. Maestro
1.3. All vs. host
2. Formats
2.1. Story-centered, e.g. Hero’s journey
2.2. Structure-centered, e.g. Harold, La Ronde, shortform games
2.3. Character-centered, e.g. Armando, Faces of me
2.4. Style-centered, e.g. genres
2.5. Limitation-centered, e.g. in the dark, without words
2.6. Location-centered, e.g. improvised city tours, Dogville
2.7. Thematic-centered, e.g. News, Bring a thing
3. Sound and music
3.1. Music genre-centered, e.g. Musical, Opera, Rap
3.2. Soundscapes
4. Improv puppetry
4.1. Puppets only
4.2. Puppets & humans with interactions
5. Psychological-centered improv
5.1. Playback Theatre
5.2. Psychodrama
6. Mask Play
6.1. Commedia dell’arte
6.2. Full mask
6.3. Half mask / Trance mask
7. Body
7.1. Contact improv
7.2. Action theater
7.3. Dance Improv
8. Technical
8.1. Video
8.1.1. Live video interactions
8.1.2. Loops & replays
8.1.3. Dubbing
8.2. Visuals, e.g. drawings
8.3. Asynchron informations, e.g. via headsets
8.4. Radio play
9. Participants
9.1. Solo
9.2. Fixed cast
9.3. Audience members on stage
10. Continuity
10.1. Independent from previous shows
10.1. Story connected to previous shows
10.2. Character from previous shows
11. Free forms
And I’m sure there is a lot more. So feel free to add, comment or ask me for clearifications.
Leave a Reply