ABSTRACT
What exactly is the Crisis and how does it benefit the overall story? All these questions will be answered here, to help you understand the secrets of this enigmatic, yet powerful step in the narrative process. The Crisis is divided into two parts: ordeal and understanding. The ordeal is when the fortunes of a protagonist hit rock bottom, and all is lost. However, thanks to this extreme failure the protagonist will understand, learn, and grow. This understanding will launch the final act of the story. Crisis is something that is always used in cinema, television, and theatre, yet rarely seen in improvised performance. This chapter explains the theory of Crisis and proposes exercises to put these theories into practice in narrative improvisation shows.
