Frantic Assembly: Their Methods and Impact on Performance

Frantic Assembly are an international company with numerous awards and are
celebrating 25 years producing incredible physical theatre; their devising methods
influencing creative careers in many ways and always seeking to find talent in
hidden places and in people from all walks of life. I have made this essay to
analyse their inspiration, methods and impact on their audiences and the
Performing Arts industry, and how all of that reflects in their work.
One of the reasons why their work is so influential to creators is because of
their simple building-block-style devising methods. They have a variation of types
to help their practitioners become inspired in movement and are designed to
create the story when details are added to the basic work. These methods are
based off even simpler acts that are found in everyday life – for example, the
method ‘fluff picking’ has a pair picking imaginary fluff off each other. Specifically,
this method was a primary base for the movement of the Frantic show Lovesong
to show the differences between the characters’ relationships; in the play there
are two characters that have actors for the older and younger versions of
themselves that hold clear changes in their romantic relationships, and the
method was used to show how their sense of playfulness has changed over time.
Other examples of the building-block methods include chair duets; squeeze
duets; round-by-through; hymns hands and ‘the dangerous dance’. As I said
before, these methods are designed to show relationships between characters –
what their relationship is, what their individual stories might be, and how their
relationship has changed after different circumstances. I recently watched the
company’s masterclass on devising1, and I realised that there are two details that
can change these characters’ stories: the dynamics and changes of circumstance.
The use of dynamics in their work drastically change the mood the
movements give off – when practitioners experiment with this detail for a single
piece, such as speeding it up or slowing it down, or pulling and pushing instead of
placing hands, there can be multiple outcomes. For example, if the movements
are done slowly and softly, the characters could be portraying a stable, romantic
or caring relationship. However, if the movements are done with the opposite
dynamics, the relationship would become violent and harsh. When adding the
1
Frantic Assembly masterclass on devising https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=gUqZPfGIX6U&list=WL&index=2&t=0s
right dynamics, practitioners often find it very easy to make up a story for the
work due to the direct changes in mood.
The changes of circumstance can add to the developing storyline that the
dynamics structure – this can either be a change in the place the piece is
performed (such as a kitchen or bedroom), different props that can be
incorporated, or another person onstage. The use of these things can give the
audience more clues as to what kind of relationship the characters are in. For
example, the use of performing in a kitchen could show a domestic relationship;
the use of a ringing phone could mean that one of the characters feel obliged to
answer (raising all sorts of questions); and another character outside of the piece
could be used to raise questions about their relationship (is one of them having
an affair, for example). These give an extra layer to the work and add to the
emotion that the dynamics had suggested.
About inspiration for the building-block method, the artistic director of
Frantic, Scott Graham, states that “the process [of Frantic’s devising methods]
came about through recognising [his] own limitations coupled with a desire to
teach and share something as soon as [he] learned it”2. In an interview for the
Frantic play Things I Know To Be True3, Graham also explains that practitioners
who are eager to learn create an exciting rehearsal space, which is vital for
concentration and motivation. Knowing these things, it makes sense that
Performing Arts students are learning about the company as a key practitioner,
and are using their devising methods often.
Due to their unique way of creating physical theatre, Frantic Assembly’s
work has a very powerful emotional impact on their audiences. It is this way
because the company wants to show raw emotion through the actors’
movements. Their aim is, and always will be, to make ‘brave and bold theatre’
that can be ‘physically dynamic and brutal’ or sometimes ‘proudly tender and
fragile’4 and allows practitioners to effectively show this emotion with the body
rather than words. For example, they revamped Shakespeare’s Othello in their
style and the wildly different dynamics in movement that they used made
emotionally powerful scenes even more impactful for the audience. They also
directed the movement for the play adaptation of The Curious Incident of The Dog

2
The Frantic Method https://www.franticassembly.co.uk/the-frantic-method
3
Scott Graham interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVs_-Rq3BT0
4
About https://www.franticassembly.co.uk/about
in The Night-Time to help inform the audience about autistic traits through their
style of theatre.
When looking at audience reactions for some of their plays, specifically for
The Unreturning5 and I Think We Are Alone6, it is clear that Frantic Assembly
succeed in making their aim a reality. Many people state that both plays are very
emotionally powerful, as well as “something they have never seen before”. The
plays also talk about relevant subjects, something that is also shown in Curious
Incident with its main topic on autism, and they are very informative on them. The
audience is acknowledging these topics and reflecting on them while talking
about their experience.
As a concluding statement, I agree with the many people that go to watch
Frantic Assembly’s work – they are extremely unique in devising work and I find
them extremely emotionally invoking. The plays they make talk about topics I find
interesting, especially with Curious Incident, and especially with that play I can
easily see how they’ve incorporated information on topics. As we are developing
our own version of Curious Incident, we have done a lot of workshops on how
Frantic Assembly devise their work, and I often spot how we can link their
devising methods to a specific autistic trait. Knowing their methods and the
impact I can create on people with my own work when using them, I hope to
make as big as an impact on my audiences as well and inform them on what I
think is important.

Bibliography:
1 – National Theatre (2015) Frantic Assembly Masterclass: Building Blocks For
Devising Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=gUqZPfGIX6U&list=WL&index=2&t=0s [Accessed: 3rd April 2020]
2 – Frantic Assembly (2020) The Frantic Method Available at:
https://www.franticassembly.co.uk/the-frantic-method [Accessed: 3rd April 2020]
3 – DigitalTheatrePlus (2017) Scott Graham – Frantic Assembly / Interview /
Digital Theatre+ Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVs_-Rq3BT0
[Accessed: 3rd April 2020]
4 – Frantic Assembly (2020) About Available at:
https://www.franticassembly.co.uk/about [Accessed: 3rd April 2020]
5
Unreturning reactions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYYFYbUltKQ
6
I Think We Are Alone reactions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9Zm1vVbzU0
5 – franticassembly (2018) Audience Reactions to The Unreturning Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYYFYbUltKQ [Accessed: 3rd April]
6 – Theatre Royal Stratford East (2020) Audiences react to I THINK WE ARE ALONE
/ Stratford East Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9Zm1vVbzU0
[Accessed: 3rd April 2020]