3 things I learned from working with improv.
The cast laughing in the rehearsal zoom room.
Let me start by acknowledging the extraordinary work of improvisation consultant and theatre maker Lucy Fennell. Lucy was the improv consultant for Peer Productions’ improvised mini-series 50 Days: Alone Together and much of what I write about in this blog post I learned from her. If you’re looking for someone brilliant contact Lucy. You can find her on twitter here.
As a playwright I often write in response to improvisations developed in workshops with young people so I am no stranger to using improvisation as part of my creative process. However, until we started working on 50 Days: Alone Together, I had never built a drama entirely using improvisation.
50 Days: Alone Together is an online mini-series which is the story of ten teens and their first fifty days of lockdown. It’s designed to support young people’s mental health and is entirely recorded via zoom calls. It was performed by members of the Peer Productions Actor Development Programme. By the way, if you’d like to audition for this year it’s not too late. You can apply here.
1) It’s all in the detail.
One thing that Lucy instilled into us right from the beginning was the importance of details. This was particularly clear when she set the young cast the task of developing shared memories and histories together. Although much of what they discussed was never explicitly mentioned in the series, this shared storytelling provided a rich backdrop for the characters and enabled the young cast to build more authentic relationships on screen. This was also important in the drama itself with specificity of language (from Val’s childhood Blue Peter badge to Lilly sending Amelie the Llama cushion to Jacob’s loathing of Hey Duggee) grounding the drama in truth.
2) The art of play.
Being playful with one another was central to our shared approach. This meant learning to be emotionally present and available even though we were working socially distanced from behind laptops dotted across the country. This didn’t stop us playing games. Virtual whack a mole was a personal favourite of mine. Being curious and open was key and I sat back in awe as the young actors flexed their creative muscles leading each other into challenging territory and meeting each other intellectually and emotionally in the zoom room. Most of the takes we used in the final series were our first or second take so the spontaneity of play really served us well and contributed to the overall feel of the series.
3) Real words and real feelings.
At Peer Productions we take the mental health and well-being of our young actors seriously. We knew that we would be working with some challenging. themes and emotions and were prepared to be providing extra support as needed. However, I hadn’t realised the additional emotional impact which improvisation would bring. For at least some of our young actors, the freedom to use their own words rather than working with a script meant that they found themselves more easily able to access some big emotions. On more than one occasion we were all startled by the strength of feeling which bubbled up. We had to take care of ourselves and of each other making sure we took breaks, broke the tension and did some silly things to help us ground ourselves again. Luckily the young cast had spent the previous six months working together so knew each other well enough to be able to contribute to a safe working environment.
You can watch the whole series on youtube.
