Theatresports

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). Developed by director Keith Johnstone in Calgary, Alberta, in 1977, the concept of Theatresports originated in Johnstone's observations of techniques used in professional wrestling to generate heat, or audience reaction.

Contents

Content

The content of Theatresports scenes is often structured games which can double as entertainment and as training exercises. Some example games are as follows:

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

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

Philosophy

Although staged as a competition, Theatresports has the philosophy that corniness and gags tend to lower the quality of scenes. The emphasis is on building characters and on spontaneous, collaborative storytelling. Jokes and gags are seen as disrupting the narrative, and avoiding both collaboration and building a scene.

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, the 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.

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,[1] tends to emphasise the sports competition format more than Theatresports, for example by having a referee who awards points and administers fouls. The Australian shows Thank God You're Here and TheatreGames LIVE follow a similar format to these shows.

Trademark

In some countries, "Theatresports" is a trademark and copyright of Keith Johnstone and is managed by the International Theatresports Institute. In Australia, the "Theatresports" trademark is owned and managed by Impro Australia Incorporated.

In the late 1980's various improv groups in London discovered the games and competed against each other in local pubs and colleges throughout the city. Americans studying abroad returned to the states with many of these games, and much of it is incorporated in today's improv groups including Second City and the Groundlings.

References

  1. ^ "ComedySportz History". World Comedy League. http://www.comedysportz.com/history.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-16. 

Sources

Further reading

See also

External links