Creativity to be unleashed at the Improv Festival
IF YOU love the unpredictability of unscripted theatre, then the upcoming Improguise Improv Festival is just for you. Running from March 15 to 19 at the Galloway Theatre at the V&AWaterfront, this will be Improguise’s fourth festival.
“You never see the same thing because it’s all made up. Everything we do is for the first time. So even if you’ve seen Theatresports before, the characters are different, the storyline is different. The audience tells us what they want to see,” explained Improguise director, Tandi Buchan.
Resident at the Galloway Theatre at the V&A Waterfront Theatre School, Improguise are on a drive to cultivate an audience and bring more people to the theatre which they can restyle to their needs since the theatre seat order reversed and changed according to their needs.
As always, improv relies on the magic of the audience, so Improguise will judiciously use their 12 members across the six nights to provide a different experience every time.
The festival comprises of the following:
Monday: Theatresports: This improv show has an MC calling the shots and judges from the audience judging the two teams that compete in a series of games suggested by the audience plus a musician to increase the tension.
Tuesday, March 15: Documentary: The seven actors concoct a completely made-up, full-length documentary in front of the audience.
Wednesday, March 16: Naked Improv: this has a PG 18 age restriction, but that doesn’t mean the actors take their clothes off, just that things get a bit raw and uncensored. “We start with nothing, it’s a black slate, no props, nothing,” said Buchan.
Thursday, March 17: South African Soap Opera: This one will be the biggest cast of at least eight actors. There will be a director and each actor will introduce their character’s specific trait and/or occupation, but the audience suggests settings and subplots.
Friday, March 18: Superscene: Six directors compete against each other with a short scene and the audience decides which story gets dropped in each round until only one director remains and that particular storyline gets finished.
Saturday, March 19 at 11am: Pop up Tales: Buchan directs a group of V&A Theatre School graduates in a children-friendly story which proved popular earlier this year. Children draw on a huge piece of paper which becomes the backdrop and also the storyboard for whatever the participants act out. Throughout the show they also call on the audience to provide extra pirates or dragons or whatever the kids have suggested is necessary for the story.
Saturday, March 19 at 7.30pm: Musical: Six actors plus Megan Furniss as a director will make up a musical on the fly with the help of musician, Jaco Grissel. Grissel plays both Saturday shows, while James Hardey is the musician on other nights.