A whole new type of theatre

Bored of learning lines? Of repeating over and over again the same sentences and gestures under the yelling of an unconvinced stage director? Of having all your new ideas rejected because they would “alter” the idea people have of a play? Let me introduce you to improvisation theatre. 

Improv is a type of theatre in which a whole show is performed without any script. To make it simple, comedians go on stage without knowing anything about the stories they are going to tell, and the turns events can take. Nowadays the most common representations of theatrical improvisation are matches in which two teams of six improvisers play with/against each other to earn the audience’s vote. Matches can go from casual and friendly when happening between two small teams to very serious and important during official tournaments -because there are national and international improv tournaments with professional players-. Of course the audience doesn’t see this serious aspect of a representation ; watching a match is always a lot of fun, and you’re right to feel privileged knowing that only you and the people in the room will ever get to see those exclusive scenes. Nevertheless, if you think Improv is completely free from rules, you are very mistaken! There are many of them, and the referee is always there to give you and your team a warning if you try and break them. But these rules are far from making you forget about good aspects of Improv. You can express and develop your imagination in total liberty, learn how to control your stress and of course develop acting skills, but you can also meet new people and become more confident, in yourself and in others. And believe me, there’s nothing more thrilling than going on stage without knowing anything about what you’ll be doing, and nothing more satisfying than having an audience react to something -from a lame joke to an emotional story- you came up with in the moment.

My intentions here are not to dis classical theatre by saying it is old and boring and that it’s annoying to obey a stage director’s orders (even though that’s the opinion I got from my own experience, I totally understand that some people enjoy it as much as I enjoy Improv), but to open views on another way of seeing acting. In the end, I would highly encourage you to go and try Improv, or to just sit comfortably in your spectator seat, prepare your voting cards, and enjoy a nice show…

Solène