The Bat
A long-form Harold performed in complete darkness, created by Joe Bill at the Annoyance Theatre. Performers build every scene through voice alone — characters, space, and action exist only as far as they are spoken out loud.
Players
4–8
Duration
30-45 min
Difficulty
Advanced
Full description
Setup and Launch
The Bat is a Harold performed in complete darkness. Before starting, brief the ensemble: once the lights go out, you are each other's eyes. Every entrance, exit, location, and emotion must land through what you say and how you say it. Agree on an edit signal before the show — an offstage clap, a deliberate pause, or a clear closing line. Performers take their positions on stage before the lights go out.
Flow
1. Setup
Gather a broad suggestion from the audience — a single word or theme, ideally abstract enough to inspire a range of scenes ("cleaning" rather than "toothbrush"). Explain that the entire show will happen in darkness and that characters, locations, and action will be conveyed by voice only. Performers take their positions on stage before the lights go out.
2. Opening Scenes
With lights out, performers launch the first round of scenes. Each scene establishes a distinct pair of characters, a relationship, and a game — the repeating pattern worth exploring. Every detail that matters must be spoken: who you are, where you are, and what just happened. Keep initiations bold; tentative beginnings vanish in the dark.
3. Scene Development
Return to earlier scenes and heighten the patterns found in the first round. Change the context — shift time, location, or status — while preserving the core game of each scene. Vocal cues and dialogue signal entrances, exits, and transitions. Where a lit Harold uses a sweep or walk-across, here an agreed signal — a clap, a silence, or a clear vocal tag — marks the edit.
4. Exploration and Escalation
Worlds start to collide. Characters from separate scenes meet, themes echo across storylines, callbacks — returns to earlier details — surface naturally. Raise emotional stakes through vocal intensity, pacing shifts, and layered sound effects. The audience cannot see tension in your body, so it must live in your voice.
5. Resolution
Bring the threads together around a shared theme or moment. The final beat should feel inevitable — a product of everything the ensemble has been listening for since the opening. End with a clear closing line or collective silence, then bring the lights up.
Key rules
Listen only to what is actually said — Respond to what you hear, not what you expect. In a lit show you can read body language and adjust; here, the words and the voice are all you have. Build on the real offer.
Establish who, what, and where out loud — At the top of each scene, name the character, describe the location, and state the action. There are no visual cues. If you don't say it, it doesn't exist for anyone in the room.
Yes-and with extra precision — Accept and build on offers by adding concrete details. Vague agreement ("Sure, whatever you say") is unhelpful in any improv; in the dark it is a dead end, because neither your partner nor the audience can fill in the blanks visually.
Give every character a recognisable voice — Shift pitch, rhythm, accent, or vocabulary for each character. When the audience cannot see costumes or posture, a distinct voice is the only way they know who is talking. Commit to it from the first line.
Don't ask questions without adding new information — Questions shift the burden to your partner and stall momentum. In the dark, a scene built on questions feels like two people groping for a light switch. Make statements; attach new facts.
Don't block with denial or topic-switching — Blocking stalls scene development and is amplified in darkness because there is no physical action to fill the gap. Accept the reality your partner is building and add to it.
Speak spatial relationships out loud — "I'm across the table from you" or "I just walked through the door on your left" — use dialogue to anchor where characters are relative to each other. Without this, the audience (and your partners) lose the geography of the scene.
Use your voice to convey emotion and character — Intonation, pitch, pace, and volume are your primary tools. A whisper builds intimacy; a sudden shout raises stakes. Practise the full range — monotone kills a Bat scene faster than anything else.
Format structure
Context
Resources
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