Course Profile

This course requires students to engage in dramatic processes and the presentation of dramatic works, and emphasizes the application of drama skills in other contexts and opportunities. Students will interpret and present works in a variety of dramatic forms, create and script original works, and critically analyse the processes involved in producing dramatic works. Students will develop a variety of skills related to collaboration and the presentation of dramatic works.

This course focuses on the art of improvisational theatre and the skills necessary to create three-dimensional characters, coherent stories and compelling performances through strong listening skills, emotional connection and exploration of the key elements of theatrical storytelling.  

A demonstration video of some of the elements in this course profile can be viewed here.

Course Overview

This course provides an in-depth exploration of improvisation as a vehicle for drama development, theatrical presentation and actor training. Students apply their skills in the development of comic and serious improvised scenes. They analyse scene structures and the historical use of improvisation in the development of theatre for socio-political and entertainment purposes. Students experiment with long forms of improvisation to develop a final presentation.  See BLM 2.

Scope & Sequence

Unit Descriptions

Unit One - Yes, And!

Students will learn about the basic rules of improvisation, focusing on agreement, advancing and making offers.  Emphasis will be made upon the philosophies of improvisation, including the importance of "making your partner look good."  Students will learn how agreement is the cornerstone of improvisational collaboration and how saying "Yes and" enriches the ideas of all improvisers.

Unit Two - Who, What, Where - Scene Structure

This unit focuses on the basic elements of scene structure, including setting, relationship and action. The emphasis of this unit will be upon relationships and how that scenic element can help to motivate the action of a scene.  Students will explore status and the creation of attitudes towards other characters and begin to look at the concept of point of view as it applies to improvisation.

Unit Three - Looking for the Game

Students will learn to look for patterns within a scene and develop an understanding of how pattern leads to comedic structure.  They will also begin to learn about point of view and how a character's point of view on themselves, their scene partners and the world around them can cause them to play this game in their lives.  Students will apply this concept to their own lives, reflecting on how they also have patterns of behaviour and how they are informed by their point of view.

Unit Four - Characters and Point of View

Students will explore different elements of character, including objective, stakes and point of view.  Possible activities include creating a character based upon a photograph.  Looking at point of view as a character's thesis about themselves, their relationships or the world.  Source material can also be used to create a point of view for a character.  This unit can be used as an opportunity to explore our cultural biases by understanding our own cultural lens as well as exploring the lens through which other cultures see issues or the world.  This unit can also focus on the use of improvisation for actor training through the creation of rich characters using improvised inner-monologues.

Unit Five - Forum Theatre

By using source material like newspaper articles, stories, etc., students will generate a series of scenarios to be explored through forum theatre.  They will develop an understanding of Theatre of the Oppressed and the work of Augusto Boal.  Students will focus on using point of view, objectives and stakes to stay true to a character while improvising solutions to issues of power and oppression within forum theatre scenes.  Students will explore how the techniques of improvisation can be used to explore political issues and real life situations.

Unit Six - Long Form Improv

Students will explore a variety of long form improv structures starting with the Harold, which is the first long form developed by Del Close and Charna Halpern.  The teacher can create a variety of other long form structures collaboratively with students and/or have students bring in structures researched from the Internet.

Culminating Activity

The students will create a long-form improvised performance based on a structure that they have created themselves.  Suggest to students that their structure should start with some sort of brainstorming game, followed by a series of scenes which extrapolate on the main theme of the play and then the rest of the structure allows the players to bring the various pieces together into a coherent piece of theatre with clear and three-dimensional characters.  Students should be encouraged to keep their structures simple with no specific plot points and few structural elements to allow for freedom in the improvisation.  Further they should be encouraged to keep the structure focused on creating connections and relationships between characters and not on gags or plot. See BLM #1 Long Form Rubric.

Resources

Books

Boal, Augusto. Games for actors and non-actors. London: Routledge, 1992. Print.  ISBN 0-415-06155-5
An excellent book for activities pertaining to Theatre of the Oppressed and Forum Theatre.  Teachers can also find games which can be used for warm-ups or to thematically explore concepts.
Diggles, Dan. Improv for Actors. New York: Allsworth, 2004. Print.  ISBN 1-58115325-2
This is an excellent book for exploring character-driven improvisation.  There is an excellent chapter on status, which breaks status up into not just "high and low," but a second axis, "pleasant and unpleasant." 
Goldberg, Andy. Improv comedy. Hollywood, CA: Samuel French, 1991. Print.  ISBN 0-573-60608-0
Halpern, Charna, Del Close, and Kim Johnson. Truth in Comedy. Colorado Springs: Meriwether, 1994. Print. ISBN 978-1-56608-003
This book focuses almost exclusively on the evolution of The Harold, the first long form improv structure.  The book offers great insight and some games for teaching improv skills.
Johnstone, Keith. Impro for Storytellers. London: Faber and Faber, 1999. Print.  ISBN 0-571-19099-5
This book offers quite a few games and activities for exploring the structure of stories in theatre and improvised theatre.  It is focused on plot-driven rather than character-driven stories, but still provides an excellent foundation for improv skills.
Napier, Mick. Improvise: Scene from the Inside Out. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2004. Print.  ISBN 0-325-00630-x
A much more advanced exploration of improvisation, often revisiting exploring different reasons for following or disregarding rules which have become ingrained improv doctrine.  This book consists mostly of theory and philosophical ruminations on improvisation.
Salinsky, Tom. Improv handbook the ultimate guide to improvising in theatre, comedy, and beyond. New York:Continuum, 2008. Print.  ISBN 978-0-8264-2858-5
A good source for games, warm-ups and drills, as well as perhaps the most comprehensive history of North American improvisation.
Spolin, Viola. Improvisation for the Theatre. 3rd ed. Evanston: Northwestern UP, 1999. Print. ISBN 0-8101-4008-X
Spolin revolutionized drama education by using games to teach specific drama skills.  The games in this book may seem didactic now, but are the basis for much of the work of modern improvisers and drama educators.

Web

https://improvencyclopedia.org/

http://www.improv.ca

https://www.learnimprov.com/

Instructional Strategies

Demonstration, activating prior knowledge, games and drills, group tasks, improvisation in pairs, analysing scenes, reflective group discussion and writing, reading and reflecting, large group and whole class scenes.

Glossary of Terms Specific to Course

Group Mind - A sense of unity among players, in which agreement, listening and chivalry are so strong that members of a scene can anticipate one another, organically build on each others' ideas and sense the direction of a scene without any need to control it.  When a group mind generates a scene, there is no individual sense of ownership over its success.   
Heightening - To explore and deepen an idea.  A generic term which relates to increasing the size, scope and scale of an emotion, idea or stakes within a scene.
Long Form Improvisation - Longer story based improvisation that focuses on character development, relationships, and plot.
Looking for the Game - In comedic work, there is often a "game" which is a pattern of behaviour that is repeated and heightened.  Looking for the game is the act of finding that pattern within a scene.  Some would say it is the act of looking for the "what" of the scene.  Asking "What is this scene about?" can help students find the game. 
Improv Structure - An improv structure is a framework within which the improvisers play.  Structures can be very simple, offering only a starting point, or be more complex with a series of "flags."  Flags are plot points or structural moments that occur within the structure.  It is suggested that any use of flags be limited and that there be as few as possible to allow for freedom of improvisation.
Platform - A platform is the established given circumstances of a scene.  Who the characters to each other (relationship), what the characters are doing and where the characters are (setting).  For a checklist to assess the creation of a platform, refer to BLM #2 - Platform Checklist
Point of View - This is a lens or filter through which the character sees the world.  It is a firm belief which colours their reactions to situations and other characters.  This point of view can be applied to other characters, themselves, an issue or the world at large.  A character's point of view comes from their upbringing, pivotal moments in their lives, their socio-economic status, culture, race, and position within their social/familial circles. 
Short Form Improvisation - Shorter quicker improvisation that are usually "on the spot" gimmicks and games.

Tasking - The act of miming a task.  This is usually done to establish setting, but can also be used to create a physical activity to the scene.

See BLM #3 - Improv Glossary Terms for further improv terms.

See BLM #4 - Improvisation Terms Quiz for an evaluation tool.

Examples of Activities

Three Rules
Students learn the importance of several concepts that are essential to the creation of improvised scenes as well as the creation of an environment in which improvisation can occur.  Ideas like agreement, chivalry and advancing will be covered.  By the end of the lesson, students will understand how to work collaboratively to advance a scene.
Relationships
Students will explore strategies through which to generate relationships within a scene and how to use those relationships to drive a scene.  They will practice establishing basic relationships, developing an attitude within that relationship and then exploring stakes and making that relationship personally important to them.
Introduction to Scenic Games
Students will begin to look for patterns of behaviour in their scenes both as individual characters as well as in their interactions with other players.  They will also reflect upon their own patterns of behaviour and how point of view motivates these behaviours.
Point of View
Point of view is a useful lens through which to explore character.  It acts as a filter through which the character perceives the world and causes them to react in certain ways.  Students will learn how to generate a character's point of view on the spot.  Students will develop a character's point of view and practice filtering their offers through this point of view. 

Assessment and Evaluation Strategies

Communication

Written analysis, tests and quizzes, journal reflections, anecdotal notes on class discussions.

Application

Performance (see BLM #5 Performance Rubric), rehearsal process checklists and rubrics, anecdotal notes on exploration during drills.

Theory

Performance, tests and quizzes, anecdotal notes on class discussions, reports on companies that employ improvisation in their creative process.

Thinking/Inquiry

Performance, analysis, written peer and self assessment, journal reflections, analyses of development of improvisation methods.

Communication
Written reflections, reviews, written self and peer assessment, anecdotal notes on class discussions.