Location: London, UK
COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak
Lockdown
And, improvise! Words that
many actors dread to hear.
A
couple of years ago I decided to do some training in improvisation. We
studied it at drama school, but that was quite a while ago and I decided I
needed and wanted to hone my craft.
I
had done a couple of sessions at The Actors Centre with Paul Foxcroft, so I sought him
out and ended up studying three levels of improvisation with him, Ben Fogg and
Richard Soames at Monkey Toast Improvisation. And I loved it!
My
initial reason for signing up was to get more confident in this discipline and
because it frequently arose during castings, commercials in particular, but I'd
had to improvise in auditions for all kinds of things including film and
theatre. I was slightly surprised at how much I enjoyed it - the scope
for creativity and the infinite possibilities the empty stage, a small
suggestion and the collective brains of a group of people can generate is
intoxicating. Don't get me wrong, it's also terrifying but kind of like going on a rollercoaster terrifying.
After
completing training, a group of us formed The Trophy Room and have been gigging
(until about March when something stopped all live performances, can't think
what it was...). I really look forward to getting back in the room with
them to play sometime soon.
If
you want to watch some excellent improv, check out Middleditch and Schwartz on
Netflix.
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