Imprology

Does this sound correct to you, and do you have any experience you can share about the first one?

The first Chicago tradition originated from the Compass Players and early Second City in the late 1950s and 1960s, with notable figures including Paul Sills, Viola Spolin, Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Barbara Harris, and Severn Darden. Scenes began in behavioural ambiguity: the audience felt power, intimacy, or conflict before knowing who the characters were or where they were, with meaning often arriving only at the end and reshaping everything that came before.

The latter Chicago tradition originates from Del Close and iO (ImprovOlympic), which was developed with Charna Halpern and formalised through structures like The Harold and The Armando. Here, the intro focuses on fast clarity: establish where, who, and what is strange early so that large ensembles can share, edit, and heighten the same material across multiple scenes.