Devoted & Disgruntled - What Are We Going To Do About Improvisation, 2013?

16 June 2013

Devoted & Disgruntled - What Are We Going To Do About Improvisation, 2013?

Slapdash Festival, Arch 61, Ewer Street, SE1 0NR

Slapdash Festival

12 - 5pm

Lee writes:

Call it what you will: The Improv AGM, Gathering of the Clans, Pow Wow, Village Council, Town Hall Meeting, Escape Committee - whatever analogy works for you, it is time for the improvisation community to come together in Open Space to talk, work, plan, plot, bicker, fight, flirt and maybe fall in love (even if it is to fall in love with improv all over again).

What are the hot topics for you right now? What, in the world of impro needs urgent action? What is never going to get fixed unless we fix it together?

These are just some of the things that got worked on last year:

Format theft.

Why is impro(v) so predictable?

Impro, theatre and audience participation.

Women Improvisers.

“I hate the way you guys...” Difficult conversations.

Non-impro that helps your impro.

There’s much more work to be done. You know there is.

If there is a theatre form that understands that no one else is going to do it for you, it is improv. If we want our art-form and our community to keep growing and getting stronger we can best do that as a community. This is not about agreeing with each other or wanting the same things (we can be as factional as the Judean People’s Front and the People’s Front of Judea) but it is our ability to hold contradiction and diversity that makes us so strong.

Matilda writes:

I'm excited to report that following on from sessions I called at the previous impro D&Ds, Improbable are soon to lead their first ever impro workshop for women. Stuff happens at D&Ds - it isn’t just a ‘talking shop’ as people fear, or rather the kind of talk on sale at this particular shop is hot and the world changes as a result of it.

In fact I am increasingly coming to believe that if you want to change the world D&D and impro are both very good ways to do it. There’s that quote you may have heard:

“Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.” (Margaret Meade)

On both an impro stage and in a D&D the world gets a bit more fluid, a bit more flexible than its disturbing tendency towards rigidity in everyday ‘real’ life. So, at a D&D on impro it seems there is a double dose of possibility....come and change the world, or simply have a cup of tea and a good chat, or - best of all - do both at once.

Slapdash Festival

The afternoon runs using Open Space technology which gives anyone the chance to propose a starting point for discussion, then take part in one of these conversations, flit between them all, or head to the bar.

This event is free! No need to book, just turn up on the day. For further information or to discuss access requirements get in touch with the Improbable Office on 0207 240 4556 or email [email protected].

Hope to see you there.

P.S. If you would like to read the reports from the last Devoted & Disgruntled Impro event click here