🔗Harold

Setup and Launch

Harold is the foundational long-form improv structure, codified by Del Close and Charna Halpern at iO Chicago. In practice it runs 25-30 minutes of ensemble work where seemingly unrelated ideas converge by the end on the principle that everything is connected.

Before you start, take a single word or phrase from the audience and choose your opening type (invocation, pattern game, organic opening, monologues, living room, or cocktail party). The opening is sometimes called a "handle" -- it's a rapid group exploration that generates raw material for your scenes. Establish the working frame: 6-9 performers, a 3x3 structure, two group games between beats.

One critical note on the suggestion: aim for something broad. If the audience gives you a concrete noun like "toothbrush," widen it to a theme like "cleaning" -- that gives you cleansing of souls, janitorial work, erasing data, and dozens of other directions. The broader the seed, the richer the Harold.

Set the focus right away: in a Harold you are not building a story with a beginning and an end. You are noticing and heightening repeating patterns of behaviour, status, language and relationship. The foundational rule is follow the unusual -- spot what is strange or precise and make it the centre of your next move.

Flow

1. Opening

The ensemble explores the suggestion through associations, images, short phrases and physical impulses. The goal is to generate "seeds" for scenes: themes, relationships, patterns, rhythms. This could be free associations, a group song, physical movement, monologues, or any rapid exploration of ideas around the suggestion. Whatever form it takes, listen for the recurring threads -- those are your runners.

2. Beat 1 (Discovery)

Three independent scenes A/B/C, typically with 2-4 performers each. Meet the characters and find the game of the scene. The threads should be as different from one another as possible -- do not go hunting for connections yet. Each scene is loosely informed by the themes from the opening, but the scenes are not related to each other.

3. Group Game 1

A short ensemble game that acts as a palate cleanser. It refreshes the energy and helps the team lock in a shared rhythm. The game is typically unrelated to the three scenes you just played -- think of it as a reset, not a continuation.

4. Beat 2 (Heightening)

Return to A/B/C and heighten the patterns you found. The key is to shift context and raise the stakes while preserving the core game of each scene -- not to recap the events of Beat 1. Use analogous pulls (same game, new characters), time dashes (same characters, new time), or tangential connections (same theme, new angle). More or less obvious links between the scenes start to emerge here.

5. Group Game 2

The second group game gathers focus before the finale and often illuminates themes that will collapse into each other in Beat 3.

6. Beat 3 (Connecting)

The connection phase: callbacks, worlds colliding, characters from different threads meeting. By this round, scenes may merge with one another or even disappear entirely -- not all three threads necessarily return. The connections must grow organically from listening and the team's memory, not from a pre-planned scheme to stitch everything together. The scenes do not have to culminate in a neat climactic ending; the audience feels the connections through pattern, not plot.

Scene Transitions

In a Harold, scene endings are not called by a tech booth or a logical story conclusion. The offstage ensemble controls transitions, and there should never be dead stage between scenes. Common wipe types:

• Front wipe -- offstage players walk between the performers and the audience, clearing the scene.
• Clap -- an offstage clap terminates the scene.
• Tap out -- offstage performers shoulder-tap onstage players, replacing them.
• Technical -- lights dim or a chime sounds from the tech booth.
• Director cut -- the ensemble coach calls a new scene.

When a wipe occurs, the next scene starts seamlessly. Keep the momentum alive.

Tips

• Broaden the suggestion. A narrow noun like "fork" becomes richer when you widen it to "eating" or "choices." The opening is where this broadening happens.
• Master the wipe. Offstage awareness is as important as onstage play. If you see a scene peaking or stalling, initiate a clean front wipe. No dead stage.
• Performers can play multiple characters. You are not locked to one role. Play in scenes A and C as different people, or return in Beat 2 as the same character in a new context.
• Group games should be simple. They exist to reset the energy and give the audience a breath. A quick pattern game or physical exercise is better than an elaborate setup.
• The opening generates runners, not scenes. Don't try to "plan" your first scene during the opening. Just listen. The seeds will find their way into your work.
• Trust the back line. In a Harold, what happens offstage matters as much as what happens onstage. Your teammates are listening, remembering, and they will bring the connections when it's time.