Theater 3 Improv Activity

Today in my theater 3 class we did an improv activity to help our acting skills. We were given a sheet of paper with a couple of different scenarios. Each scenario we were given was very simple and it was up to us to decide where to take the scenario. Our activity was to get with a partner and to take a few minutes to plan out the premise of the scene and characters. My partner was Mary Helen and we decided to go with the scenario that had Person A washing dishes and Person B coming in. The two people had an argument and this scene is the aftermath of it. Mary Helen and I decided the basis of what the relationship between our characters was and why we had fought. We decided that we were a married couple, she was the wife and I was the husband. We also decided that our fight was initially because of my dropping out baby on its head but that it would spiral into something bigger. The only other thing we decided on was to start the scene out small and gradually build to the height of the conflict and then fall back to a more neutral tension.

Once we got on stage we started, I decided to walk in on Mary Helen, as if I was walking into the kitchen while she was doing dishes. We started by having a bit of small talk and I was making small comments to annoy her. After my second comment to her, she whirled around and cursed at me as loud as she could. I was a bit startled at this moment because this wasn’t something we had discussed. I broke character for a moment but tried to quickly regain my composure. We continued with the scene and did a good job of progressing the story, but after 2 or so minutes we began to repeat ourselves and the story felt stagnant.

Overall this was an interesting activity and taught me a lot about acting and a bit about directing. I learned a lot about how to play off of another actor and read their tones and body language to create a better, more believable story. I also learned that improv does take a lot of practice, especially to keep the story moving and developing. Looking at this activity through a directorial lens made me think about the importance of actors being able to act off one another and be able to play into the story. I feel as if this is an important exercise for bonding but it also helps for if someone forgets their lines.