Impro Theatre Residency Concludes with TENNESSEE WILLIAMS UNSCRIPTED
By: Julie Musbach
LA's own Impro Theatre concludes their yearlong residency at The Edye at The Broad Stage, presenting a different style of their signature improvisation for one weekend, each month. For the final show in their residency, Impro Theatre will pay homage to one of America's most prolific playwrights Tennessee Williams UnScripted (June 15 - 17). Starting with audience suggestions, Impro Theatre captures Williams' masterful storytelling and delicious language as it creates full-length plays that are hilarious, yet as tragic as a Southern belle's broken heart.
Tennessee Williams wrote some of the most important plays in the American literary canon, including The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Night of the Iguana and The Rose Tattoo. His words are iconic, from the cries of "Stella!" to "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Over his career, he was awarded four Drama Critic Circle Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes, two Tony Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Impro's Producing Artistic Director, Dan O'Connor said, "Williams' rich body of work is perfect for the Impro Theatre ensemble to dig into. It is evocative of a certain period in the American south that is filled with complex and intense characters all trying to survive the human condition. We are inspired to create plays that explore the worlds beneath these seemingly genteel societies that are sometimes populated with fragile and fierce people who ooze passion and tenaciously guard their secrets." Los Angeles Times said of Tennessee Williams UnScripted, "Critic's Choice! The seasoned team at Impro raises the stakes of improv. No Impro show is pre-planned. Like a sand sculpture in a rising tide, each is unique, never to be seen again...fun and rigorously executed entertainment." LA Weekly adds "GO! Tenderly comedic...savvy. Lingers somewhere between satire and homage." Impro Theatre received two 2016 Ovation Award nominations: "Best Presented Production" for Jane Austen UnScripted at The Broad Stage and "Best Featured Actress in a Musical" for Michele Spears' performance in Sondheim UnScripted. The Los Angeles Times says, "Impro Theatre has evolved into a powerhouse improvisational company in full-length shows that are off-the-cuff and consistently hilarious. An indigenous Los Angeles treasure, the company should be seen - and reseen!" Impro Theatre has a long history with The Broad Stage, where the company performed Jane Austen UnScripted for several years, performed the world premiere of Fairytale UnScripted and performed the world premiere of 1966 Holiday Variety Extravaganza in December of 2016. Jane Austen UnScripted will return to The Broad Stage in December 2018. About Impro TheatreFounded as Los Angeles Theatresports, Impro Theatre has evolved from a successful short form improv troupe into a critically acclaimed theatre company. Impro Theatre creates completely improvised, full-length plays in the styles of the world's greatest writers. With no pre-planning or prepared scenarios, the performers start with audience suggestions and then write theatre as they perform it, combining verbal dexterity and dynamic physicality to bring character and plot to life in an instant. Impro Theatre's performances are unique; there are no repeated characters and no set story structure. Each performance offers an exploration into the process of spontaneous creation while encouraging a profound level of engagement between performers and audience, who are all united in discovering what happens in the moment on that particular night. In Southern California, Impro has performed sold-out shows at South Coast Repertory, The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, The Pasadena Playhouse, North Coast Repertory in San Diego, The Falcon Theatre in Burbank, and many more. Venues around the world include the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago, Evans Auditorium at Texas State University, The Melbourne Fringe in Australia, and Theatre Adyar in Paris.
Photo: Tennessee Williams UnScripted. Courtesy of Impro Theatre.
|
After the Blast The Broadwater Second Stage (8/05-8/13) |
|
Catch Me If You Can Colony Theatre (9/17-10/18) |
|
E=MC² Einstein The Musical Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center (7/03-7/26) |
|
Emily Skinner: In Concert Feinstein's at the Nikko (8/14-8/15) |
|
Fool for Love Santa Monica Playhouse (7/23-7/26) |
|
Gershwin and the Golden Age Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) (10/11-10/11) |
|
John Lloyd Young Feinstein's at the Nikko (8/21-8/22) |
|
Kinky Boots - The Musical (FILM) The Plaza Theatre (8/30-8/30) |
|
OTR: A New Play OTR: A New Play (11/23-11/27) |
|
Tre Floyd''s Black Girl Therapy The Miracle Theater (9/19-9/19) |