Do we have to use lifts for it to be “Frantic”?

Practitioner Krista Vuori responds,

‘If you would have asked me 15 years ago as a new practitioner with Frantic, I would have most likely answered Yes. However, today my answer is No. If it doesn’t serve a purpose in the story to be lifting people around, then there is no need to use them. “Frantic” is more than the lifting technique we share in our workshops. It is a great skill to have, and a great way to practice contact work, but as a storytelling device it needs to earn its place.

I would also say no but then I would run the risk of getting low marks in my examination. I have heard from Teachers who have asked me this question, and it appears that there is an expectation from examiners for performances to deliver a certain style or amount of movement. I understand where this comes from as it makes the show easier to assess but it is a blunt and reductive way of determining whether something is ‘Frantic inspired.’ To my mind that could make it Frantic derivative or even a pastiche or satire, but I think there are probably more detailed ways of being inspired by Frantic.

That said, movement is a huge part of how I tell stories. I believe most of the information we give away when observed is physical. But I would say that does not mean expressive movement. It does not mean I look to comment on the world through a chair duet.

I would say the thing is to remember that the most important element of the Frantic processes is what exists behind the example we might have taken them from. It is not the scene itself. For example, the learning to take from The Lovesong Bed moment is not the choreography or even the setting of that scene but the creative process behind it. How it took The Crooked Path allowed for creativity and could challenge the participants to be ambitious and then apply that choreography to a new setting. Understanding this and applying it to your work would feel, to me, like being ‘Frantic inspired.’

I just don’t know how well that will serve you in your examination!

Jonnie Riordan was the Associate Director on the UK versions of Things I Know to be True and says,

‘Movement is a huge part of the Frantic Assembly devising process, so yes physicality should play a part in your performance. However, Frantic Assembly doesn’t purely create one style of movement. So, if you assume that your work needs to demonstrate explosive, fast paced material with lifts and catches then you're only showing one type of potential choreography. Some Frantic shows are soft and gentle, some boisterous and explosive. We choose the style that best fits the story we’re presenting on stage, so based on your stimulus/theme you could do the same.

Stillness on stage is a hugely physical action to achieve. On ‘Things I Know to be True', the phrase “Don’t just do something, stand there”, was used to encourage the performers to not move for the sake of it; to build and stretch the physical tension on stage. Characters could only break the stillness when their character absolutely needed to cross the stage, to hug their father, to escape an argument. Considering this physical detail is as valuable to our process than a sequence that is shoehorned into a performance purely to demonstrate ‘Frantic movement’.

There are other things that are important to our process. Text, design, sound and lighting are just as crucial if you’re representing our style in your work. How you use design should be at the forefront of your thinking. How does your set, or lack of, effect the creation process? If you know you must create every location with just a table and chairs, how can you use that as a virtue? Where on the stage do you place a scene? Is placing a piece of dialogue downstage centre as interesting to an audience? If we place it in a corner or in a door frame, do we change the way an audience receives the information in the script? These considerations are all physical choices in my opinion and therefore part of creating a movement-based performance.