“All the world’s a stage.”

Ever notice how life send messages?

Or at the very least themes?

My theme this past week has been ‘improvisation’.

Repeat after me:

The definition includes, but is not limited to (after all, it IS improvisation) the following:

1. To invent, compose, or perform with little or no preparation.
2. To play or sing (music) extemporaneously, especially by inventing variations on a melody or creating new melodies in accordance with a set progression of chords.
3. To make or provide from available materials: improvised a dinner from what I found in the refrigerator.
4.To invent, compose, or perform something extemporaneously.
5. To improvise music.
6. To make do with whatever materials are at hand.

This message started with last Wednesday’s Conscious Divas event. One of the speakers was an improv teacher named Rachel Franco. She presented the idea of theatre improv rules as one way of more gracefully adapting to whatever life throws at us…because surely life is just one big improvisation, non?

I’d been mulling over that idea all week.

Then.

Last night we were invited to the Christmas Queen at the Improv Centre on Granville Island. It was ridiculous, goofy and great fun. Having Ms. Franco’s aforementioned rules swirling around my cortex made it even more enjoyable.

There are a zillion sites about improv. They  all seem to have different rules, but the general message is the same. (Here’s one of my favourites from Tina Fey).

I have picked from a few of the sites to cobble together my own reminders for the act of improvising and adapting in life.

• We are all supporting actors.
• Accept the scene. Allow it to move forward.
• Check your impulses.
• Never enter a scene unless you are NEEDED.
• Save your fellow actor – don’t worry about the piece.
• Your prime responsibility is to support.
• Work at the top of your brains at all times.
• Never underestimate or condescend to your audience.
• Trust… trust your fellow actors to support you; trust them to come through if you lay something heavy on them; trust yourself.
• Avoid judging what is going down except in terms of whether it needs help (either by entering or cutting), what can best follow, or how you can support it imaginatively if your support is called for.
• LISTEN.

“All the world’s a stage.”

Related articles

• Lights, Camera, Improv!
• Improve your brain: Improvise! (study)
• “Playing It Raw” lesson with exercises
• Whose Line Is It Anyway?
• Jimmy Carrane – 10 Off-Stage Tips to Becoming a Better Improviser
• The Art Of Improv
• Eleven Commandments of Improv Theater