HUGE Theatre and Performance by an Improve Group Nimblicity - Essay Example

Improv Show On May 8 I had a great experience: I went to the HUGE Theatre and watched the performance by an improve group Nimblicity. This is was my first time that I saw this kind of theater I was fascinated by the acting of the people. This paper will provide an account of experience, highlighting certain specific elements. To begin with, one should point out that the audience for the show was relatively big. I always thought that improvisation theater is not interesting for the public; so, I was prepared to for a little audience. However, I was surprised to see that all the sits were taken and everyone really wanted to see the show and not just bought a ticket to go anywhere, but stay at home. As for the demographics of the audience, it may be necessary to state there were mainly people in their twenties and thirties. People of all ethnic backgrounds were present, but the audience was mostly white. Everyone seemed to be aware of the modern culture; so, the people were quite young. Speaking of my seat, I would like to not that it was located in close proximity to the action. Of course, I was not able to get the front row, but I was sitting close the aisle; so, I had a better view of the scene. It must be noted that the space of the HUGE theatre is contrary to its name, meaning it is not very big; that is why any person could have said that he or she was sitting close to the action. Just like many people around me I did not dress up. I did understand that I was going to attend a theatre, but neither I nor my companion had a thought of dressing up. I believe that improvisation theatre is the next generation of this art and one of the peculiarities of it lies in the fact that dressing up in not required. Keeping this in mind, one should also spare some words about parking. Most of the people shared cars; so, there were not many vehicles in the parking lot. In addition to that, there were no expensive cars: people of the same socioeconomic class attended the concert so there was not need to show off. So, it may be rather advantageous to mention there was some music before the show. It was ambient and was not very loud. However, it set the distinct spirit of optimist for the audience. People were moving around and the music was playing; so, everyone waited for the show to start. I believe that this affected by experience of the show quite a low since it contributed to the formation of the good mood and I could appreciate the performance that I was about to see. Of course the latter would have been enjoyable without the music, but with it the impact was amplified. The show did not have a particular name. It was called just like the group of the improvisers was called. There were eight of them: three women and five men. One should note that they all were of middle age and some of them, namely Jen Scott and Tom Winner were looking quite old. This means that they appeared to be quite experienced performers who would bring the best improvisation to the audience. Before each show the artists ask the audience to say several words that would shape the performance. This time there were “black” and “badger”. Therefore, the focus of the show was on a group of tourists who were in the wood and saw a black badger. In order to convey the atmosphere of the wood, all improvisers acted as if they were a little bit cold and had to watch their step. There were no props on the stage, so the performers had to rely exclusively on their acting ability to convince the audience that they were watching people in the wild. Moreover, there was no ambient music that could have conveyed the atmosphere of the forest. I believe that this reflects the dynamic nature of improvisation: none of the actors thought that they will be showing a piece in the woods that night. So, there was no need to prepare such music. As the artist tried to show the normal behavior of the people, they did not sing. Indeed, in musicals the characters start signing all of a sudden which makes the narrative that the audience watches quite fictional. On the other hand, the improvisation artists did not sing; some of them were humming a tune, but that was just not to be bored. It has already been mentioned that there was no music during the show; however, that does not mean that there were no sound effects. Indeed, the artists would use the chairs to create a dangerous sound or would step their foot really hard to make a sudden sound. There is no doubt that this is quite inventive of them. Having watched the show, I might conclude that I enjoyed it very much. As this was my first experience, I did not know what to wait for, so I was prepared to see anything. As a result, I kept my mind opened and watched what the artists presented. Thinking about their acting I still can not believe that all the dialogues between them were improvised: they seemed so natural. I believe that I was able to connect with the group and what they were trying to convey as I had a great time and this surely boosted my mood. I think that the major task of them was to tell people that one should always be optimistic no matter what happens in life. Moreover, it is important to keep an open mind and improvise whether one is on stage or in real life and there is no need to follow the script that was written prior to the actual situation as it can not reflect actual state of affairs. Read More