UR Improv Festival bringing new energy to club
author: charlotte jones | contributor
The UR Improv Club has performed on stages across Western Canada. Photo credit: Micaela Crighton
The UR Improv Club is hosting teams from across the prairies in this debut event.
The University of Regina Improv Club is holding a festival this week starting on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at the Rex Schneider Auditorium in Luther College. Teams from Edmonton and Winnipeg, as well as local teams such as Hitchhikers Improv Company will perform in this fun-filled, four-day festival. Each night they will have several performances from both new and experienced performers starting at 8 p.m. There will be a $5 cover charge at the doors, which are set to open at 7:30 p.m. All are welcome to attend!
This will be the first improv festival of its kind held at the university, and its performers will be working around the clock to make sure it is an enjoyable experience for its viewers. The University of Alberta, University of Saskatchewan, and University of Winnipeg will all be sending their best and brightest to the Queen City. Local improv teams will include a team from one of Regina’s high schools, U of R Improv, Combat Improv, and Hitchhikers Improv Company. Performers will congregate for four days to attend workshops from local professional improvisers, and utilize these new skill sets to perform elaborate, on-the-spot scenes each night.
Improvisation is a form of live theatre wherein the plot, characters, and dialogue of a game, scene, or story are made up on the spot. Often the scene is built around a suggestion chosen from a member of the audience. Each person participating in the performance accepts the ideas of each other and adds their own twist. Through this “yes and” formula, the scene can be built upon and the team can rely on the minds of each other to help forward an unscripted scene or storyline. The biggest difference between improv and other theatre is that it can never be recreated. It can only ever happen once; this can be quite liberating seeing as any mistake you may make will never be repeated exactly.
The U of R Improv Club meets twice weekly each Monday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in LC 100, and each Thursday from 4-6 p.m. in the Luther Auditorium. Everyone is welcome to join in on these workshops that are geared towards teaching and improving upon improv skills. The U of R Improv Club attends many festivals across Western Canada. In its 2015/2016 season, team members attended festivals in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. If you want to learn more about improv, have always wanted to try it but haven’t had the chance, or you think one of them is cute, like their Facebook page and/or come to one of their shows this week; they are even more handsome up close.
