PHS hosts ‘A Night of Improvs’

The improv artists of the Porterville High School Drama Department will present ‘A Night of Improvs’ on the PHS campus Saturday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. This single performance will take place on the stage of the Drama Room (A7) on the campus of Porterville High School at 465 West Olive Avenue in Porterville (located right next to the Porterville Memorial Auditorium).

Admission price is $2 for adults and $1 for students, which allows the ticket-holder to witness the mad-cap antics of some of PHS’S finest improv artists as they compete for the comedy crown.

What is improv, you may ask? Improvisation or “improv” is a type of acting that requires the performer to extemporaneously create scenes, characters, and situations on the spot without scripts or prior rehearsal.

This is one of the first skill actors learn, and is can be used in a variety of circumstances onstage; both amateur and skilled professionals rely on improvisation to enhance their performances.

Porterville audiences who have watched the T.V. show ‘Whose Line is it, Anyway?’ will already be familiar with the format and some of the exercises. Often comic in nature, ‘improv’ is fun for both actors and audience.

Throughout the evening, young actors from the PHS Drama department will appear in a series of performance exercises with fanciful titles such as “Taxi,” “Freeze Tag,” and “Bus Stop.” Each exercise requires quick thinking as the performers create the story and characters on the spot. No scripts are used, nor are lines memorized; the students make up the dialogue, create relationships, and resolve problems on the spur of the moment.

Audience participation is welcomed and expected, and the evening’s entertainment is family-friendly.

Tickets are available at the door starting at 6:30PM; for more information, call (559) 7827279.