Remember ‘Whose Line is it Anyway’ and ‘Give Us a Clue’? Well this improvisational theatre workshop adopts that fun and spontaneous attitude to try and create different pieces of drama. This interactive show allows the audience to join award-winning practitioners in being performers as well as a spectator.
The Invisible Network of Acting’s company aim is not to put a price on having fun, and to encourage exploration through acting and improvisation in workshops and performances for festivals, at schools, universities and various other events. Acting Funny is specifically designed to see how spontaneous comedy can be produced through improvisation. The stage is equipped with a wide range of different props including clothes and accessories to help make each scenario that little bit more realistic.
The afternoon kind of runs like a drama lesson, the practitioners take it in turns to complete different warm up exercises focusing on rhythm and concentration. This worked well in engaging the audience from the very beginning as throughout the quality and enjoyment of the workshop ultimately depends on you. Here seems like a good place to note that, although they say involvement from the audience is not compulsory, you will enjoy it considerably more if you are the type of person who is willing to get involved and be creative. At the same time it is fun to sit back and watch what unfolds, but you do risk feeling a bit awkward at times so I think the key message is get involved! Of course the performances produced weren’t of a high standard, and you do risk getting the odd ‘diva’ that studied drama at secondary school but never quite made it so gets a bit carried away, but all in all it is just a bit of fun. I can see how this kind of performance works well within the schools and universities as it is more of an educational exploration as opposed to a polished piece of theatre.
At the end of the workshop the practitioners highlight that the event is free to make acting experiences like this available to everyone but you are invited to give a donation if you so desire. It is a fun afternoon so go along with a readiness to get involved and I’m sure you will enjoy yourself!
