Playing in the street; A rebirth in street theatre has been sweeping

The world was perplexed, but it was also impressed. Four years ago, the France World Cup opened to an extravaganza of street performances that cost (pounds) 5 million and featured football- headed acrobats and performers on stilts. British sports commentators wondered aloud what giant insects had to do with the flat back four, but to the 80,000 individuals packing out the Place De La Concorde it was the beginning of a great party. To civic leaders back in Britain it was a grand example.

Since then street theatre festivals have sprung up across England; from Plymouth to Bradford to Lincoln. In 2002 The Commonwealth Games organisers in Manchester approached the creators of Britain's most extravagant homegrown street performances, Improbable Theatre, to organise the opening ceremony. It has become the choice for any British civic body who want to tell their constituency and the world at large that they are culturally aware and socially inclusive. And in 2000, Scotland got its own national street arts festival, Big In Falkirk.

If you look at the range of events in Falkirk this year, the diversity of street theatre is obvious. Scott Palmer is the director of Glasgow Repertory Company, primarily dedicated to performing Shakespeare outdoors.

"We are accustomed to moulding our performances to the surrounding environment," he says. "We are working with acrobats and jugglers in a manner that is true to the text, but allows us to sit alongside the more obvious street theatre of the festival."

Anyone who saw last year's pyrotechnic extravaganza by French company Groupe F at Big In Falkirk will realise that international street theatre has developed beyond acrobats and jugglers. Festival director Neil Butler has brought the best of European street theatre to Britain - first through Brighton's Zap Productions and later with Glasgow's UZ Events and Edinburgh's Unique Events, which brings street theatre to Edinburgh's Hogmanay. As well as Big In Falkirk he has organised opening events for the Forth & Clyde Canal and the Scottish parliament.

"The work we have championed has evolved from the tradition of agit-prop theatre that took to the street to demonstrate in the protests of 1968," says Butler. It is quite different, he says, from "those irritating people that stand still".

So how did European street theatre develop from the spontaneous protests of Paris 1968 to the grand events of Paris 1998? One factor is the addition of story, according to Julian Crouch, director of the leading British street theatre company Improbable, whose show Sticky is at Falkirk this year. French and Spanish street theatre, says Crouch, combine "spectacle with narrative". There may be an absence of overt political messages, but this does not eliminate political purpose. The 1998 World Cup was just the most high-profile example of street theatre as political PR.

In Britain, however, political content has survived, largely through neglect. Street theatre here has lived since the 1970s completely outside the mainstream. This was demonstrated recently when a London-based broadsheet knocked back a feature on Improbable Theatre because the arts editor claimed the company "just do fireworks". In fact, Sticky is Britain's only large-scale, European- style spectacle show and its high production values have only been achieved after several years of ingenuity by a crew - which incidentally features a high quota of Scots.

Ian Smith is artistic director of Scotland's ingenious, small- scale street theatre troupe Mischief La Bas, also appearing at Falkirk. He believes that homegrown street theatre has inherited Britain's historical love of the spoken word. "The French put a 70- foot walrus in front of you and that is enough," he says. "Street theatre here still has message."

But as street theatre moves centre stage in Britain, will it maintain its political purpose? In January this year, the Arts Council of England released a strategy and report on street arts, which promised increased organisation and funding. In Scotland, Boilerhouse theatre company, known for its site-specific work, has received a commitment from the Scottish Arts Council for over (pounds) 250,000 of funding for street theatre.

Chlo Dear, the company's producer, came to street theatre through her work with Edinburgh's Beltane celebrations and believes that the funding will correct an important imbalance. "Whilst all these events featuring European companies have been impressive, there has not been enough opportunity for Scottish companies to perform," she says. With the funds, Boilerhouse intends to cerate European-style street spectacles. It could become a whole new reason to brave the Scottish weather.

Big In Falkirk runs from Friday May 24 to Monday June 3. See below for details of the highlights.

www.biginfalkirk.com Going to falkirk? Here's a few reasons why you should All events are free unless otherwise stated. All times are subject to change.

BBC Concert Orchestra/Celtic Tenors/Brenda Cochrane Friday May 24, Callendar Park, 7.30pm Following the official opening of the Falkirk Wheel by HM the Queen, the BBC Concert Orchestra performs a programme of popular music including the William Tell Orchestra, Mull Of Kintyre and Elton John's Rocket Man, with special guests.

BBC Big Band Saturday 25, Callendar Park, 8-10pm Swing, soul, jazz and funk from the BBC Big Band, with guests Pat Kane of Hue & Cry and guitarist Jim Mullen.

As You Like It Saturday 25-Friday 31, Callendar Park, 6pm (Sat/ Sun) or 7pm (Mon-Fri), (pounds) 5/(pounds) 3 (family ticket (pounds) 15) Shakespeare's gender-bending comedy, in an open-air promenade performance by Glasgow Repertory Company.

Street Theatre Friday 31-Monday June 2 A mixed programme of free street theatre. Suffolk-based Heir Of Insanity perform aerial spectacular Atlantis at 9.30pm (Fri-Sun); Poland's Teatr smego Dnia perform Arka on a huge ship with wings at 10.30pm (Fri & Sun); and London's Improbable Theatre perform their spectacular Sticky at 10.30pm (Sat only). There are also performances over the weekend by Desperate Men plus Glasgow's Mischief La Bas, Edinburgh's Te Pooka, Manchester's Whalley Range All Stars, France's Thetre Provisoire and others.

Bob Geldof Saturday June 1, Live Music Stage, Callendar, noon- 10pm The former Boomtown Rat, saintly world-feeder and moneyed media mogul headlines, with strong support from local bands Cosmic Rough Riders, Snow Patrol, Astrid and Pearlfishers, among others.

Live Music Sunday 2, Live Music Stage, 1-10pm Edinburgh-based mambo kings Salsa Celtica headline, with support from Transglobal Underground and the Bhundu Boys, among others.

BBC Music Live: Ricky Ross Monday 3, Live Music Stage, 4.30pm The Deacon Blue frontman is preceded by Falkirk Chamber Choir and Falkirk Community Orchestra performing The Beatles' All You Need Is Love at 1pm, as part of a link-up to be broadcast live on BBC1.

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