The Deconstruction
mid-1990s-present · Chicago / New York
Also known as Deconstruction
A long opening scene (6-8 min) is mined for thematic and commentary scenes that peel back what the opening was 'about' — Close's most cerebral long-form.
Known for
- Created by The Family (Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Neil Flynn, Miles Stroth, Adam McKay, Ali Farahnakian) under Del Close's direction at iO Chicago.
- One of The Three Mad Rituals (with Harold and The Movie).
- Structure: Opening Scene → 2 Thematic Scenes → Opening Scene (return) → 5 Commentary Scenes → Opening Scene → Run → Opening Scene Close.
- Thematic scenes explore what characters WANT/FLAW; Commentary scenes attack 'what was f*cked up about what those two people said.'
- Called 'the single most important long form ever created' by UCB faithful — the form most commonly used as a teaching capstone at UCB.
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