On he walks on a empty stage. A player comes with. The director calls out. to the audience. what have they goin’. The crowd cheers. Now. the stage is set… they walk off again and

This guide provides educators, professionals, and parents with an easy-to-follow and comprehensive approach to utilizing improvised theatre as a tool to teach social and communication skills to individuals on the autism spectrum. Opening with the philosophy of the curriculum and the considerations of mental health, play, and environmental factors on individuals with autism, the book then breaks down specific activities, suggests course sequencing, and explains how each activity works and applies to desired outcomes. Packed with dozens of activities and explanations, the book includes all the information necessary to design a full curriculum or create an at-home learning program for parents. By combining the fun and engaging atmosphere of improvisational theatre with the systematic teaching of social skills, professionals and parents can cultivate learning in a way that keeps students engaged while providing long-lasting improvements in social interaction, self-confidence, and communication.

A MASTERFUL BOOK ABOUT BREATHING LIFE INTO ART AND ART INTO LIFE “Stephen Nachmanovitch’s The Art of Is is a philosophical meditation on living, living fully, living in the present. To the author, an improvisation is a co-creation that arises out of listening and mutual attentiveness, out of a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity. It is a product of the nervous system, bigger than the brain and bigger than the body; it is a once-in-a-lifetime encounter, unprecedented and unrepeatable. Drawing from the wisdom of the ages, The Art of Is not only gives the reader an inside view of the states of mind that give rise to improvisation, it is also a celebration of the power of the human spirit, which – when exercised with love, immense patience, and discipline- is an antidote to hate.” Yo-Yo Ma, cellist

Improvise!: Use the Secrets of Improv to Achieve Extraordinary Results at Work (Max Dickins) Improv performers look like creative geniuses, coming up with brilliant comedy on the spur of the moment. But they rely on some simple rules and techniques – ones which anyone can learn, and which can help us offstage to think creatively, collaborate with others and communicate with impact. Improvise! will show you how to handle whatever comes your way at work – from giving confident presentations and handling difficult conversations to coming up with great ideas and persuading others to make them happen. Comedian and improvisation for business coach Max Dickins combines examples from the world of work with exercises from the stage to teach you how to achieve extraordinary results with what you’ve already got.

In this volume, Atuel publishes a new contribution by Jorge Holovatuck to the amazing problem of the formation and training of the actor. A factory of theatrical games and exercises crowns Holovatuck’s extensive career in the practice and research of theater pedagogy. Under the epigraph of Jean Paul Sartre, “We must expand the field of the possible”, Holovatuck expands in this book the knowledge and strategies that he developed in the Manual of theatrical games and exercises. Each unit of A factory of theatrical games and exercises carries out provocative theoretical-practical approaches and includes a stimulating proposal of “Activities” that can be applied in the workshop or theater school. It is a book designed for the action of the reader, to whom Holovatuck leaves the last word. Raúl Serrano, Hollovatuck’s teacher, writes in the prologue: “The author aims to imbue the technique itself with creativity without the terms being antagonistic. The idea of the artist pedagogue is presented in a very different way from that in which it is normally understood. “It is not about the artist who necessarily becomes a pedagogue, but rather the pedagogue who raises his aim and converts his classes into true creative events.” The material…

This best-selling book by Viola Spolin offers the most comprehensive theater instruction for all types of students, from small children to young adults. It includes over 130 theater games, plus exercises and instructional strategies. First developed by Spolin, the originator of modern improvisational theater techniques, these games have been tried and tested for over fifty years.

On both sides of the stage improv-comedy’s popularity has increased exponentially throughout the 1980s and ’90s and into the new millennium. Presto! An original song is created out of thin air. With nothing but a suggestion from the audience, daring young improvisers working without a net or a script create hilarious characters, sketches, and songs. Thrilled by the danger, the immediacy, and the virtuosity of improv-comedy, spectators laugh and cheer. American improv-comedy burst onto the scene in the 1950s with Chicago’s the Compass Players (best known for the brilliant comedy duo Mike Nichols and Elaine May) and the Second City, which launched the careers of many popular comedians, including Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and Mike Myers. Chicago continues to be a mecca for young performers who travel from faraway places to study improv. At the same time, the techniques of Chicago improv have infiltrated classrooms, workshops, rehearsals, and comedy clubs across North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Japan. Improv’s influence is increasingly evident in contemporary films and in interactive entertainment on the internet. Drawing on the experiences of working improvisers, Whose Improv Is It Anyway? provides a never-before-published account of developments beyond Second City’s mainstream approach to the genre….

Theatrical Games. Awareness raising, improvisation, character construction. Acting techniques This book collects the pedagogical work of the author, who for 16 years has combined her experience as an actress and teacher to systematize, specify and propose coherent material for teachers, students and theater directors, on useful and simple dynamics to design a theater program. The first part is based on different games and exercises that are used to prepare the actor, compiled from the experience of the author and from the teachers Clive Barker and Viola Spolin. The second part is focused on the work of the teacher based on acting techniques such as The Comedy of Art, the Stanislavski technique, the Michael Chekhov technique and the Neutral Circle technique.

Have you ever seen a HAROLD in your life? Improv theater, called Impro, Improv or Improv Comedy, is usually known for improvisation games. Television shows like Who’s Line is you anyway? popularized improvisation games on the Internet. The entire Improv methodology was developed through improvised games. All improvisers learn to improvise through them. Improvised games are the ABC of improvisation but… what about the rest of the alphabet? In 1955, in California, members of the group The Committee decided to put on a different improvisational show that night. Instead of a theatrical show made up of improvisation games as they normally did, they decided to try a new way of improvising: with just one word from the audience as an initial suggestion, they would improvise the entire show straight without stopping until the end. After the performance, in the car, returning home, the group’s director, called Del Close, asked what they would name that different type of improvisation and one of the members simply replied: “Harold!”. Long form improvisation, also called slow comedy, was born there. Claudio Amado is from Teatro do Nada, one of the precursor groups of Improv in Brazil, founded in 2004. In 2009, Claudio Amado debuted…

Performing Commedia dell’Arte, 1570-1630 explores the performance techniques employed in commedia dell’arte and the ways in which they served to rapidly spread the ideas that were to form the basis of modern theatre throughout Europe. Chapters include one on why, what, and how actors improvised, one on acting styles, including dialects, voice and gesture; and one on masks and their uses and importance. These chapters on historical performance are followed by a coda on commedia dell’arte today. Together they offer readers a look at both past and present iterations of these performances. Suitable for both scholars and performers, Performing Commedia dell’Arte, 1570-1630 bears on essential questions about the techniques of performance and their utility for this important theatrical form. Winner of Ennio Flaiano Award in Italianistica, 2020.