Lingua Franca

My parents have been visiting us from Australia and we spent last week in Provence.

(Tough, I know)

What we didn't know ahead of time was that the Festival d'Avignon runs for all of July. It is the oldest and largest francophone arts festival in Europe and certainly a decent rival to Edinburgh in August with the same tension between the formal event and the Fringe (Le Off). The same festival buzz was palpable; random posters plastered on every available surface and streets jammed with flierers begging us to see their show. All very exciting.

Except that obviously and frustratingly everything was in French.

So when I went along to see La Compagnie Du Capitaine perform Soiree Impro I was intrigued as to how much I'd understand.

Within minutes it was obvious which actors were genuinely funny and which were merely clever. The better performers were the same ones as in every cast; committing to character, overaccepting every offer and physicalising the story at every opportunity. The witty wordplay was lost on me but there were more than enough moments where I laughed aloud to justify the cost of the ticket. The 'alpha improviser' (there's one in every cast) was as good as any I've seen in a long time.

I don't speak French but I do speak improv.