Various theater companies performed at the Prompting Theater's Third Annual Street Theater Festival in downtown Urbana all day Saturday.

Portions of the streets outside Lincoln Square Mall were cordoned off for the event and chairs were set up there for the audience.

"It's a good way to drop by and catch a show," said Brian Hagy, director of the Prompting Theater. "Right now people know about theater but don't often go to (a show)."

Hagy said he thought of having a street theater three years ago because he had previously performed in many outdoor performances.

"When people think of outdoor theater, they usually think of the Renaissance," he said. "We tried to merge the idea with present day — a past meets present concept," he said.

The Street Theater Festival is the biggest event of the year for the Prompting Theater, and is sponsored by grants from local businesses. It acts as a fundraiser for the Developmental Services Center, which caters to adults with developmental disabilities. Some of the shows performed included the Prompting Theater's Comedy of Errors and the Actor's Rural Theater Company's Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged).

Stacy Moore, a performer with Prompting Theater and resident of Rantoul, said she heard about the street theater through an e-mail that was sent out by the Rantoul Theater Group.

"There's no script — it's supposed to be impromptu," she said. "They just told us what the scenes should be, and the time for each scene, and we had to come up with the lines and the language."

Holly Moore, Stacy's mother, was at the performance to support her.

"It's interesting — I like it because it's so different," she said.

St. Joseph, Ill., resident Cindy Mann said she took part in the festival "just for fun," and had no previous training in theater. She heard about the festival from her daughter, who has always been involved in setting up the street theater.

"I think the street theater festival is an important part of culture," she said. "Some theater shows need a controlled atmosphere, but out here people are a community and talk to each other," she said.

One of the highlights of the festival was an impromptu performance by students of the Actor's Academy that received a great amount of laughter from the audience. The performance was intended to showcase the different techniques used by impromptu performers, like using a word from a member of the audience as a spin-off for a scene.

Impromptu performer Kelsey McGraw went for improv classes at the Virginia Theater after reading about the Actor's Academy in the newspaper.

"It's the first time I'm performing, and I enjoyed the fact that it was outside," she said. "I think it went pretty well."

Amber Ginsberg, resident of Urbana, said she enjoyed herself at the festival.

"I saw the signs, and came to watch," she said. "I support community events that bring people to downtown Urbana, and I thought the quality of the shows was really great."