My Rough Theater

My rough theater is improv. I'm part of a new local long-form improv troupe called 4-Prov. The members are Chelsea Deaner, Aerial Fowle, Ryan Trimble and myself. We initially were meant to do just two shows together but then we were like "This is fun, we should do this always." We never perform in a theater we usually perform at the Juggling Gypsy and at Nutt Street's long-form night. We've also found a somewhat home at Orton's Underground. So, bars, we perform in bars.

We get in front of our audience, get a one word suggestion and then create a 10 or 15 minute story off of that one word. There's nothing perfect or polished in our execution. These aren't stories we've rehearsed several times; they are brand new. We're discovering them at the same time the audience is. Sometimes it goes over well and we get a huge laugh from the audience while sometimes we get heckled by crickets. Once we had a show at Orton's at 7 and at 7:10 we did not have an audience. To remedy this we went outside and performed on the sidewalk to generate interest. We entertained a group of ghost walkers while more people arrived to see our show continue inside.

It's improv. We make stuff in front of everyone. It's my rough theater and I love it.