Improvisational theatre

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Improvisational Theatre (also known as improv or impro) is a form of theatre in which the actors perform spontaneously, without a script. Improvisation has been employed in live theatre at least since 16th century Commedia Dell'arte. It may even reach as far back as the ancient mimes of Greek and Latin times, as Commedia Dell'arte is speculated to have derived from them. Some people credit Dudley Riggs as the first vaudevillian to use audience suggestions to create improvised sketches.

Modern improvisation began in the classroom with the theatre games of Viola Spolin in the 1940s and Keith Johnstone in the 1950s. This work spawned both modern comedic improvisation and a variety of theatre games and exercises used in classrooms and in rehearsal halls. Viola Spolin influenced the first generation of Improv at the Second City in Chicago in the late 50's, as her son, Paul Sills, was one of the co-founders. Many of the original cast of Saturday Night Live came from The Second City.

Modern political improvisation's roots include Jerzy Grotowski's work in Poland during the late 50s and early 60s, Peter Brook's "happenings" in England during the late 60s, Augusto Boal's "Forum Theatre" in South America in the early 70s, and San Fransico's The Diggers' work in the 60s. Some of this work led to pure improvisational performance styles, while others simply added to the theatrical vocabulary and were, on the whole, avant garde experiments.

Joan Littlewood, the English actress and director who was active from the 1930's to 1970's, made extensive use of improv in developing plays for performance. However she was successfully prosecuted twice for allowing her actors to improvise in performance. Until 1968, British law required scripts to be approved by the Lord Chamberlain's Office. The department also sent inspectors to some performances to check that the approved script was exactly complied with.

Also, as early as the 1890's theatrical theorists and directors such as Konstantin Stanislavski and Jacques Copeau, founders of two major streams of acting theory, both heavily utilized improvisations in acting training and rehearsal.

In all forms of improvisation, the actors invent/discover the dialogue and action as they perform. The unpredictable nature of such a performance lends itself naturally to comedy, and the majority of improvisational theatre is comedic, not dramatic. Dramatic improvisation is used by many companies and artists as a means of generating content for later performance.

This is sometimes referred to as "organic" theatre, and is especially favored by creators of political theatre, experimental theatre, and practitioners of drama therapy.

The psychology and neurobiology of improv have not been subject to extensive research. One possible avenue for exploration is the hypothesis of two brain systems for taking-in and reacting to the behaviour of another. One, evolutionary younger, would rely on a theory of mind and rationalisation. The other, evolutionary older and shared with other primates, would rely on how it is comfortable or uncomfortable to react in a given situation: drawing on non-intellectualised emotional experience. [1]

Modern improvisational comedy, as it is practiced in the West, falls generally into two categories: short form and long form.

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[edit] Improv process

Improvisational theatre allows an interactive relationship with the audience. Improv groups frequently solicit suggestions from the audience as a source of inspiration, a way of getting the audience involved, and as a means of proving that the performance is not scripted. That charge is sometimes aimed at the masters of the art, whose performances can seem so detailed that viewers may suspect the scenes were planned.

In order for an improvised scene to be successful, the actors involved must work together responsively to define the parameters and action of the scene, in a process of co-creation. With each spoken word or action in the scene, an actor makes an offer, meaning that he or she defines some element of the reality of the scene. This might include giving another character a name, identifying a relationship, location, or using mime to define the physical environment. These activities are also known as endowment. It is the responsibility of the other actors to accept the offers that their fellow performers make; to not do so is known as blocking, which usually prevents the scene from developing. Some performers may deliberately block (or otherwise break out of character) for comedic effect -- this is known as gagging -- but this generally prevents the scene from advancing and is frowned upon by many improvisers. Accepting an offer is usually accompanied by adding a new offer, often building on the earlier one; this is a process improvisers refer to as "Yes, And..." and is considered the cornerstone of improvisational technique. For example, an improv scene might begin with these lines.

Adam: I'm proud of all the work you've done here on the farm, Junior.

Bill: Yes, and I'm proud of you for giving up the moonshine, Pa.

The unscripted nature of improv also implies no predetermined knowledge about the props that might be useful in a scene. Improv companies may have at their disposal some number of readily accessible props that can be called upon at a moment's notice, but many improvisers eschew props in favor of the infinite possibilities available through mime. As with all improv offers, actors are encouraged to respect the validity and continuity of the imaginary environment defined by themselves and their fellow performers; this means, for example, taking care not to walk through the table or "miraculously" survive multiple bullet wounds from another improviser's gun.

Because improv actors may be required to play a variety of roles without preparation, they need to be able to construct characters quickly with physicality, gestures, accents, voice changes, or other techniques as demanded by the situation. The actor may be called upon to play a character of a different age or sex. Character motivations are an important part of successful improv scenes, and improv actors must therefore attempt to act according to the objectives that they believe their character seeks.

Many improvisational actors also work as scripted actors, and "improv" techniques are often taught in standard acting classes. The basic skills of listening, clarity, confidence, and performing without thinking are considered important skills for actors to develop.

[edit] Improv penalties

Within some circles of competition, a referee is called upon to keep improv scenes in check. The referee, although allowed to stop play for his own independent reasons, is generally required to call a penalty for the actions he finds questionable. Some well-known penalties include:

Blocking: Blocking is the practice of refusing another actor's offer or dismissing the traits another actor has assigned you. This penalty is normally called to restore the flow of the scene. Examples of blocking include:

A: Uncle Fred, how are you?

B: I am not your uncle Fred.

A: Well, I suppose you're right. Would you like to look in the treasure chest I just found?

B: No, I do not want to look in that treasure chest.

Blocking is generally discouraged by one's fellow improvisers, but an improviser is often undeservingly encouraged because the audience automatically laughs at this refusal. The penalty often results in slightly lower scores for a team.

Waffling: Waffling is a penalty called when an improviser or a group of improvisers fail to move a scene towards action. A scene with waffling is usually unappealling to the audience because of this lack of action. An example of a scene full of waffling is something like this:

A: Good afternoon, Jim. Your jeans look pretty worn. You wanna go get some new ones?

B: Sure, I should buy some jeans.

A: Yeah, let's go get those jeans.

B: Which store should we go to?

A: I don't know, Charlie. What do you think?

This scene of waffling would usually continue on in this manner with the audience constantly waiting for them to eventually get the jeans. The scene is boring and needs to move along. Thus, waffling. This foul constantly bothers improv audiences and brings about reduced scores for a team.

Groaners: To commit the foul known as a groaner, one must tell a joke, usually involving a pun, that instead of resulting in the audience's laughter, brings groaning from the majority of the audience. An example usually is something unbearable like this:

A: I just got a new cow, honey!

B: I can't believe you! You are udderly obsessed with cows...

The audience, at this point, groans in frustration. Upon being called for this foul, the perpetrator must go to his knees and beg the audience for forgiveness. The audience then accepts his apology by clapping. Although the foul can result in reduced scores, it usually doesn't upon a team's first offense of the competition.

Brown Bag aka Going Blue: A brown bag is arguably the most serious foul an improviser can commit. A brown bag is called if an improviser does or says something highly offensive or obscene. Examples include scenes that express racism, use profanity, or offend audience members in another way. The offender is required to wear a paper bag over his head for the duration of the scene and usually must be guided by his fellow improvisers.

Although these fouls are recognized by many improvisers, the informal nature of improv means that you can make your own fouls up or get rid of them altogether. While these are thought of as the base rules nothing is written in stone. Beginning improvisers are rquired to abide by these rules at all times and more experienced players can break the rules since their experience will allow them to work around the block, going blue, etc.

[edit] Improv troupes

See List of improvisational theatre companies

[edit] Well-known improv artists

Some key figures in the development of improvisational theatre are Avery Schreiber, Viola Spolin and her son Paul Sills, founder of Chicago's famed Second City troupe and inventor of Story Theater, and Del Close, founder of ImprovOlympic (along with Charna Halpern) and creator of the long form improv known as The Harold.

Dick Chudnow founded ComedySportz dealing specifically with competitive short form improvisational theatre.

The Groundlings is a popular and influential improv theatre and training center in Los Angeles, California.

David Shepherd, with Paul Sills, founded the Compass Theatre in Chicago. Shepherd was intent on developing a true "people's Theatre", and hoped to bring political drama to the stockyards. The Compass went on to play in numerous forms and companies, in a number of cities including NY and Hyannis, after the founding of The Second City. A number of Compass members were also founding members of The Second City. In the 1970s, Shepherd began experimenting with group-creatied videos. He is the author of "That Movie In Your Head", about these efforts.

Leading the new generation of improv is Total Improv which was founded in North Hollywood. The Avery Schreiber Theatre is home to the troop whose members created the improv form known as Shlinx.

A more comprehensive view of Improvisational Theater Can be found on the Improv Wiki [2]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Povinelli, Daniel J.. On the possibilities of detecting intentions prior to understanding them. In B. Malle, D. Baldwin, & L. Moses (eds.), Intentions and Intentionality: Foundations of Social Cognition. MIT Press 2001.

[edit] External links

Online Improv Resources

(language translation site -> site de traduction de langage -> Sprachenübersetzung Site -> language traslazione unità ->

Other External Links

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