Online Improv Elective: “I need you badge, your gun and your icing bag” - Mapping

Level: intermediate

Great scenes are at the heart of great improvisation. So let’s spend some real time on them. Ideal accompaniments to the nursery longform or narrative courses, these classes are deep-dives into particular areas of scenework. They are also great workouts for intermediate or experienced players. Our expert teachers will give you simple, usable tools that can be employed in a wide variety of improvisation contexts. Students will work in detail on a single aspect of their scenes, receive feedback and, most importantly, get time to play, both in break out rooms and in front of the class.

We all have expectations of how certain scenes will go. Expectations learnt from the stories that surround us. A proposal has one person kneeling to offer a ring and another saying ‘Yes, yes, a thousand times yes’. Of course, we don’t have to play the scenes that way. It is hugely fun to defy audience expectation, but the stereotypes and forms are hovering in the background, informing our play and the audience’s responses. But what if we were to take these forms and expectations and apply them in different places? What if we take the shape of a proposal scene, but apply it to a job interview? Or giving someone a Haribo? Mapping is a technique where we apply the form, objects and expectations of one situation to another. Because sometimes it’s easier to repurpose an old idea than create a new one.

Class includes:

How to identify and introduce mapping

How to playfully reframe a scene

Playing with audience expectations and scene forms

This intermediate elective runs Wednesday 16th December, 7pm BST

Intermediate (3/6 months+) These classes will be opportunities to add tools to your growing toolbox. Normally these classes will expect players to be confident playing scenes. These classes will provide practise and specific new skills.

NB: Our electives frequently sell out, but do not despair if this class has. You have not missed your shot. If enough people join the waiting list, we are often able to put the same class on a few days after or in parallel. So if you were excited, join up and we will be in touch.