Theatresports

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Originally developed by director Keith Johnstone in Calgary, Canada, in 1976, TheatreSports™ is a form of improvisational theatre which uses the format of a competition for dramatic effect. Opposing teams can perform scenes based on audience suggestions, with ratings by the audience or by a panel of judges (who are usually trained improvisers themselves). The concept of TheatreSports originated in Johnstone's observations of techniques used in professional wrestling to generate heat, or audience reaction. "Theatresports" is a trademark and copyright of Keith Johnstone and is managed by the International Theatresports Institute(ITI).

[edit] Content

The content of TheatreSports scenes are often structured games which can double as entertainment and as training excercises. Some example games are

  • Word at a Time Story, in which two or more improvisers alternate words as they tell a story. If done well, this game can be very entertaining. It teaches the skill of being 'in the moment' (not planning ahead), since there is no way to anticipate the direction in which another actor will take the story.
  • Yes, Let's, in which each improviser in a scene makes a suggestion that is loudly accepted by the others on stage with the words "Yes, Let's". When used as an exercise, this game teaches acceptance of suggestions by other improvisers and the value of a positive attitude on stage.
  • Guess My Word, in which an improviser leaves the theatre to allow the audience to suggest a secret word. The improviser then returns to the theatre and tries to guess the word as suggested by another improviser in a scene. This game teaches improvisers to be alert to the actions of others in the same scene.
  • Status switch, in which improvisers create a scene with an obvious high-low status relationship. Before the end of the scene, that relationship must be reversed (e.g. the lowly customer turns out to be the owner of the bank). This type of scene teaches the improvisers to be aware of the status levels of the characters in the scene, just as we do unconsciously in real life.
  • Random scraps: Audience members are asked to write brief sentences on scraps of paper. The improvisers begin a scene, and, at regular intervals, read one of the scraps of paper and work it into the scene. Example: "Doris, I know you're jealous that Uncle Al left me ten million dollars, but [reading] "The moon on the lake makes me think of your thighs."
  • Freeze play: Two players are handed an object. They do a short scene using the object as something it is not, but that its shape suggests. Another player calls "freeze!" and jumps in to use the object as something else entirely. And so on... [1]
  • Typing scene: A typist narrates as s/he mimes typing a story, and the improvisers jump in to enact the scenes and add some developments of their own.

Improvised themes are common, e.g.: "We challenge you to a scene ...

  • involving an object given by an audience member."
  • where all dialogue is in gibberish."
  • that starts and ends with phrases suggested by the audience."
  • that summarises a major movie in one minute."

Typical examples of heat, often involving skillfully improvised rule-breaking, could be:

  • The audience is encouraged to boo the judges, who take on the role of stern authority figures
  • An improviser passionately protests a low score for a scene, carrying on until the judges eject the improviser from the game. The improviser returns later with a home-made protest sign.
  • During a typing scene (see above), one of the improvisers "takes the typist hostage" to force the story to go in a certain direction.
  • Improvisers can be "punished" for breaking the rules, say by being forced to act a scene as a pig, or barefoot, or as a character who is destined to die by the end of a scene, or by wearing a penalty basket on their head for set time.

[edit] Philosophy

Although staged as a competition, TheatreSports has the philosophy that corniness and gags tend to lower the quality of scenes. Instead, the emphasis is on building characters and on creating a scene true to the improviser's heart, while avoiding excessive planning and intellectualizing.

Another technique taught by Johnstone is to establish a 'platform' early in the scene that defines the characters and background. Only once that platform is established should some wrinkle or conflict be introduced. According to this technique, a scene involves an ever-shrinking "circle of possibilities", which defines what sorts of offers the improviser might reasonably make in the scene. At the start of a scene, anything is possible; but, as more offers are established, and the reality of the scene is more clearly defined, then circle of possibilities shrinks, and improvisors should not step outside that circle of possibilities by making offers that seem inconsistent with what was previously established.

[edit] Derivatives

The television show Whose Line is it Anyway? uses many games that first appeared in TheatreSports, although, as a television show, it does have the luxury of being edited. ComedySportz, started in 1984 in Milwaukee, WI, [2] tends to emphasise the sports competition format more than TheatreSports, for example by having a referee who awards points and administers fouls. The Australian show Thank God You're Here follows a similar format to these shows.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Fuzzy Games List. FuzzyCo.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-16.
  2. ^ ComedySportz History. World Comedy League. Retrieved on 2006-09-16.

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links

[edit] Further reading

  • Foreman, Kathleen and Martini, Clem (1996). Something Like a Drug: An Unauthorized Oral History of Theatresports. Players Press. ISBN 0887349188 (paperback).
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