The International Institute Of Improvisation - What Could It Be & What Should It Do?

23 July 2015

The International Institute Of Improvisation - What Could It Be & What Should It Do?

New Studio, Central, 62-64 Eton Avenue, London, NW3 3HY

Hosted by MA Advanced Theatre Practice

11am -7pm

An invitation from Improbable:

Improbable make theatre, so we reckon we're pretty good at telling a story. But there's one story that we've never told that well: it's the story about Improbable’s relationship to improvisation and the intimate connection between our impro work and the other things we do which get credited as "proper theatre".

Finally Improbable have a big, bold idea that we think can tell that story better:

The International Institute of Improvisation - the iii!

At our annual Devoted & Disgruntled Open Space in January we started some work on this. We talked about how the practice of improvisation is one that we see belittled and marginalised. Even within Improbable our impro projects get pushed aside by ‘real’ theatre, yet in the widest and deepest sense improvisation underpins and nourishes everything we do. Creating something as ambitious as The International Institute of Improvisation feels like a good way to begin shifting that marginalised practice out from the shadows, a way for us to give a voice and a home to this vital strand of Improbable’s work, to codify our own practice, to share it and create a legacy.

Some of the aims we discussed for the iii! were for it to:

• Tell the story of how improvisation in all its forms is an invaluable resource for the arts and for the world.

• Nurture, develop and broaden improvisational practice.

• Conduct research and publish discoveries in all fields of Improvisation.

• Be a hub and meeting point for improvisational practices, including those from outside of theatre.

• Provide a space for UK and international visitors to gather, connect and collaborate.

Fundamentally this should be an organisation that benefits people interested in improvisation whatever form they are working in - whether that’s theatre, movement, comedy, dance, Open Space, applied improvisation, or any other form known or unknown to us.

If this organisation is going to serve people who are passionate about improvisation then we need passionate people to come and help shape and define what this organisation is and what it does.

• What should it be?

• What shouldn't it be?

• How could it support you and your work?

• What roles could it play?

• What forms could it take?

• In our wildest dreams what could iii! be and what might it do?

• What practical steps need to happen to turn this into a potent reality?

• What pitfalls and obstacles are waiting for us?

• What have we not thought about?

This idea needs your voice and your opinions. We can’t do this on our own. There’s no point in us doing it on our own. This is an International Institute. It’s for the world.

Please come along on the 23rd of July.  Whatever your interest in Improvisation is or whatever form your improvisation practice takes you can help us build this vision.

 

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Hosted by MA Advanced Theatre Practice at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama