Book Review: Easy Street

Easy Street: A Guide For Players In Improvised Interactive Environmental Performance, Walkaround Entertainment, And First-Person Historical Interpretation by Ann-Elizabeth Shapera. This book has been on my reading list for some time. For four years, to be precise, ever since Betsy mentioned it in her mourning impressions post.

And I should have read this book years ago. There's a lot of insight into what works and doesn't work when interacting with audiences, as well as exercises for designing a character, engaging an audience, or ad-libbing with other players.  Easy Street is certainly written from a Ren Faire viewpoint, and while my interpretation tends to be site-driven or activity-driven (rather than character-driven), I still found found it helpful and informative.

The book clocks in at 193 pages (plus a 14 page introduction), but the casual, conversational writing makes for a fast read. There are also lots of bullet points. The twenty-six chapters form an introduction to street theatre, freely mixing suggested exercises, advice, and illustrative anecdotes (positive and negative) from the author's years of performing and directing Ren Faire. Some other works are cited or recommended, but the basis of this book is the author's personal experience. The book presents a great deal of information, but it's presentation is too welcoming to feel overwhelming--which says something about the efficacy of the author's methods.

I think that any living history interpreter would benefit from taking a few of Ms. Shapera's lessons to heart, particularly the suggestions for promptly establishing character, and the mantra to 'make it work' for the audience.  Starting conversations has always seemed to be hardest part of interpreting (in my experience as an interpreter and viewer), and her theories for how to get the ball rolling are helpful. That being said, the examples given are for a jester performing in a Ren Faire setting, and are a bit more flamboyant than I'd be comfortable using in a craft demonstration or historic house setting; however, the underlying principles still seem to apply.

My caution about this book is to be sure you adapt the lessons to your own site and interpretive needs.  While research into the era you are presented is encouraged at multiple points, I feel it was conspicuously absent during the character-design section of chapter 2. Researching the audience's expectation can certainly be worthwhile, but I wonder that the list of possible activities was drawn solely from that, and not from one's topical research.  Activities appropriate to one's historical persona but unexpected by the audience are a great topic to interpret--and this point is spelled out, regarding the historicity of female jesters in chapter 15.  I like the emphasis on accurate costuming (for aesthetic and educational reasons, as well as conversation-fodder).  Incidentally, if you're reading this and don't do the Tudor era, see here for more costume reference books.

The conversational tone of the book causes it to amble a bit.  I think my copy will be gaining colored tabs in short order, for easy reference of key concepts and exercises. However, the personal stories about performing at Faire (and jester competitions) were amusing, and contributed to the overall message: first person theatre is about the audience, and it is something you can do it.

Score: 4.5 Stars

Strongest Impression: An insightful, approachable guide to improvising. It made this reader feel empowered to go forth and do first-person historic improv, which means it lived up to its goals.  I'd recommend every living history interpreter read this book at some point, but I might not hand it to a complete novice unless they were performing in a Ren Faire setting, as I think some first-hand knowledge of your living history niche is needed in order to apply the book's lessons.