COURSE OVERVIEW

Improvisation - the capacity to think on your feet, accepting the situation and building upon it, allows the creative mind to build extraordinary realities. Improvisation is fun! It’s about harnessing students' creativity in a positive and safe environment. It is based on the following principles: acceptance, positivity, being in the moment, making their partner look good, embracing and overcoming fear, enjoying failure, and storytelling. Regardless of students' experience, background or training, everybody can benefit from improvisation.

Focus: Lowering inhibitions, establishing trust, and mastering the fundamental "rules" of improv.

Partner Dynamics & The Golden Rule

• Core Concepts: The Instigator-Reactor relationship; "Yes, And" (Accepting and Building) vs. Blocking.

• Teacher Insight: Focus heavily on making your partner look good. Emphasise that a "block" kills the momentum and strains the partnership.

Small Group Improvisations & Shared Spaces

• Core Concepts: Expanding focus from a duo to an ensemble; creating a shared "imagined world" for the audience.

• Focus Areas: Object permanence (if someone puts a glass on a table, that table exists for everyone) and defining the Where, Who, and What of a scene.

Focus: Shifting the focus from verbal cleverness to physical expression and body literacy.

Mime Skills (Precision of Movement)

• Core Concepts: The three S’s—Simplify (strip away extra noise), Shape (give weight and dimension to the air), and Separate (isolate movements so the audience can track them).

• Focus Areas: Fixed points, resistance, and exaggeration.

• Application: Re-doing scenes from Phase 1 entirely in silence, focusing purely on physical clarity.

Mask Skills (Liberating Physicality)

• Core Concepts: Using Trestle (larval or full-face) masks to bypass the "talking head" trap.

• Focus Areas: Clocking the audience, counter-balance, and allowing the mask's fixed expression to dictate the body's posture and status.

Focus: Transitioning from open-ended scene work to structured, high-stakes comedic and competitive game formats.

Introduction to Improvisation as a Sport

• Core Concepts: Understanding constraints, time limits, and performance handles.

Harnessing the Roles (Competitors & Emcees)

• Core Concepts: Defining the distinct roles that make Theatre Sports work.

• Focus Areas: * The Competitors: Learning how to pitch game setups to the audience and work within a team dynamic.

  • The Emcee (Host): Warming up the crowd, explaining rules, getting audience suggestions, and keeping the energy high.

• The Judges/Musicians: Scoring criteria (e.g., Narrative, Technique, Entertainment) and sound effects.

Focus: Putting ownership entirely into the students' hands by producing a live tournament.

Tournament Creation & Management

• Core Concepts: Event logistics and team branding.

• Tasks: Dividing the class into official teams (choosing names, colours, and personas). Designing the tournament bracket and selecting the exact roster of games to be played.

Technical & Performance Rehearsals

• Core Concepts: Polishing the show flow.

• Tasks: Mock runs of the tournament. Refining the Emcee’s transitions, practising handling "hecklers" or dead audience suggestions, and mastering the pacing of the show.

Showtime, Recording, and Delivery

• Core Concepts: Execution and documentation.

• Tasks: Deliver the live Theatre Sports Tournament (invite an audience of peers, parents, or other classes). Ensure the event is recorded from multiple angles for review.

Deconstruction & Reflection

• Core Concepts: Evaluating growth.