CHAPTER FOUR

COLLABORATION

DIALOGUE

ENSEMBLE

ETIQUETTE

IMPROVISE

SET

OBJECTIVES

• To understand the basics of improvisation
• To work collaboratively with others
• To use movement, body, and voice to create an improvisation

PREVIEW: "YES, AND..."

• Improvisation is a collaborative effort
• You must share ideas, trust your partners, and work together
• Most of our actions in daily life are improvised
• Improv can be "situation-centered" and "character-centered"

PREVIEW: "YES, AND..."

• Successful improvisers say "yes, and..."
• They embrace a situation and react to it, add to it, and make it a scene
• This exercises creativity, mental/emotional flexibility, trust, & concentration
• When faced with a problem onstage, they use their wits to solve it
• Improvisers working with a script can easily embrace the imaginary world

BASIC RULES OF IMPROV

• Always remain open to partners, plot, and your own ideas
• Listen carefully and respond to partners onstage
• Show, rather than tell, how you feel
• Take chances! Don't be afraid to fail!
• Trust yourself and your partner

PREPARE: COMMIT TO THE REALITY OF IMPROV

• You must respond naturally and immediately to any suggestion
• Commit to reality of imaginary circumstances no matter how impossible
• Always, ALWAYS say "Yes, and.."

EASING INTO IT (NO SUCH THING)

• Trust each other-your partner will go wherever you take them
• A character can came from a gesture, voice, expression...anything!
• Develop an activity by finding a new use for an everyday object
• You can open by dialogue repeating cliches, lines from movies, or slang
• Perform a scene, choose what works and "set" it. Repeat.