Improvisation Etudes

Improvisation is a vital skill for the actor. I believe that all good acting should be improvisational by nature – that once the ground work on the script is done, once you fully understand the script, then your job is to live instinctively and spontaneously in each moment of the play. That probably scares directors, they can’t control or nail it down, but the requirement to be ‘Different Every Night’ should be always be within the imaginary context or the given circumstances of the play.

Improvisational etudes are the cornerstone of many acting classes. Games and exercises which build the ‘Yes AND’ capacity of the actor help the actor to live in the moment when the performance comes. Too many actors hate improvisation because they don’t see the point, they don’t see the connection to the job of the actor. When I teach that great acting is always improvisational, actors whisper ‘what EVEN with a script?’. As if I would advise them to disrespect the playwright like that. That’s only a job for actors with bigger Egos than the writer.

The trouble is that early on in our improvisational training, we come across the laughter and applause that ‘funny skits’ create. After that, most people are just trying to be a bad episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway? Improvisation isn’t about that.

I don’t agree with ‘improvising the character’s past and their future’. I think that’s a waste of time, it doesn’t serve the actor, it just fills up time, or put differently, wastes time in an often very short rehearsal period. You know NOTHING useful about telling the story of the script or how to play the scene from an hour spent improvising the antecedent events of the play.

I believe that the best improvisations occur when you train actors to follow a strong action and help them connect to the script.  Setting a scenario where the actor needs to come up with a solid WANT, ESSENTIAL ACTION and As-IF helps them to prepare for the thing that they will be doing on stage some other time. In other words, it’s preparation for the actual job of the actor. Improvising the character’s past will focus the actor on the job of ‘writing standing up’ a scene which is not in the play. If you use something you made up to inform your choices, then your choices are not based in the play. In other words, you desire to be a playwright. So, do it, if you have all of that ability to ‘write’, WRITE.

If you join an Improv Group, fine, that’s a different kind of activity. It’s aim is to create, and in that case, more power to your elbow.

Improvisation training helps us to learn to live in the moment, chasing a goal, connecting to the part. When that is refocused onto some kind of creative act, it distracts the actor from their job. It’s as if a couple of hours spent improvising on the piano will suddenly help you play a difficult Chopin. Rubbish! Practicing the Chopin will help you play the Chopin.