Theatre

Ready, Set, Act

The Providence Improv Guild debuts its Relay Play Series

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Improvisation is unscripted. If you scripted it, it wouldn’t be improv. Ad libbing creates great moments in scripted comedy on the big screen. Perhaps, then, it’s just as true that it can – maybe even should – happen on stage.

Providence Improv Guild (PIG) is exploring this very different kettle of fish in its upcoming Relay Play Series, which will happen every Saturday in March at the group’s Southside Cultural Center performance space. The group has solicited submissions from local playwrights who have written six to eight pages of scripted material to serve as the jumping off point for PIG’s members. What follows each of the scripted introductions will happen live and on the fly in front of the audience each night.

Guild member Melissa Bowler explains that the concept came from an article that PIG Managing Director Jonathan Murphy came across about a program put on by Portland, Oregon’s Brody Theater group. “There was an interest from our improvisers to do more dramatic, theatrical aspects of improv, and there’s a pretty sizable playwright community in Providence, so this felt like a nice fit for us,” she says.

Although fans of improv comedy won’t be disappointed, Melissa says that there’s going to be more depth to the plays than that. The unscripted, roughly hour-long format doesn’t, and perhaps shouldn’t, really allow performers to explore works that are too vulgar or violent, the playwrights were pretty much given carte blanche to explore whatever subject matter they wished.

One such playwright is Nancy Lucia Hoffman. Though she says that most of her work tends to be written for the screen, she appreciates the quick gelling world of theater. “The theater allows many more leaps of imagination and creativity,” she says.

While the challenge for the playwright may be letting her work come to life not fully formed, the challenge to the actors is more obvious. Melissa points out that many improvisors tend to lack formal acting training, just as many actors don’t have improv-specific training. To help the performers rise to the occasion, she’s solicited the expertise of actor Casey Seymour Kim, who can often be seen on stage at the Sandra Feinstein- Gamm Theatre. She says that she’s participated in rehearsals for written plays which have seen the actors drop the scripts and improvise in order to better understand their characters’ motivations. “That kind of stuff is the essence of theatrical collaboration,” she says.

No matter where the stories go, both Melissa and Casey say that they hope it brings a chance for all involved to broaden their horizons. “Hopefully it will encourage our local talent to be even bolder with their offers – to be unafraid of experimenting, of being generous onstage, of being patient so that a narrative arc can have a big payoff,” says Casey. PIG’s Relay Play Series Saturdays in March 393 Broad Street.

Providence Improv Guild, Theatre, Southside Cultural Center, Stage, Play, Providence, Improv, PIG's Relay Play Series

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