ARTS ATL: Back in the 1990s, young members of Whole World Improv Theatre could be seen on the corner of 10th and Piedmont, holding boots and excitedly collecting money from passers-by to support their burgeoning company. With no idea how much the art form would grow and become a mainstay of entertainment, the wide-eyed performers were simply focused on chasing the fun they’d discovered.
4 comments:
This article made me happy – this place seems like a whole vibe and a very welcoming environment, and I love that it exists. I also love that the first members were so casual about the whole thing, saying that they thought they had invented improv and pretty much figured it out as they went, more or less improving the very existence of the company starting out with very little money and growing from there. I wonder how the pandemic affected them; the article says that they currently are open 7 days a week and seem to be flourishing, but I wonder how 2020-2022 or so changed their business. There would obviously be the drawbacks of being unable to do in-person things, but I wonder if in the aftermath of shutdown there were more people who were interested in improv after seeing the world kind of in a state of improv and uncertainty about what came next.
This is such a cool theatre company! I had never heard of Whole World Improv Theatre before reading this article, and they sound awesome. I’ve just recently gotten into doing improv comedy and I’ve found it to be a really fun and supportive environment. What’s great about it is that the audience is rooting for you the whole time, in every scene. It’s also interesting how much fill in the blank happens in the audience’s mind. For example, if the word of suggestion is “ship” and you say “it’s sinking,” the audience fills in the idea that the ship is sinking even though you never say that. That same phenomenon makes it that every scene will read differently to each person that sees it, and the actors themselves, so it’s a very personal art form. It’s such a raw form of theatre, where everything is imaginary and is created out of thin air by the words and actions of the actors, and I love every part of it. Congratulations to Whole World Improv Theatre for thirty years of improv and I hope they will have many more!
I personally believe that improv is one of the best skills you can gain. Being able to think on the spot and creatively build something between two people with zero plans is the epitome of creativity. Also as mentioned in the article many people not in the theater world do presentations and improve can make those talks much more engaging. Because of this I alway find it inspiring to hear about production companies that improve their whole thing. It can be challenging to market improv as a performance because many people are unfamiliar with the style of theater. People know that it's funny, they know that it's all made up but until you go and see a show people can't quite conceptualize exactly what happens when performing improv. I was on my high school improv team all four years and attempting to get the student population to spend their night seeing a show was always challenging. I will always love improv and stand by the idea that everyone, no matter if you're in the theater world, should at least take one improv class in their life.
I am always interested in new theatre companies and the work that these theatre practitioners are doing around the world. I have little experience with improv except for a little in high school. Every time I have done it, I have had loads of fun just laughing with friends and making crazy scenarios together. One thing that I think is really inspiring is the work they put into building their company from the ground up. Throughout the article I could see evidence of the hard work they put into shaping Whole World Improve into what it is today. Starting somemething in your twentys and seeing it through for thirty yeas is a feat on its own. This shows just how much commitment they have to their work and the joy they are bringing to their audience. Overall, I think the work the Whole World Theatre Company is doing great work and that they will have many great years ahead of them as well.
Post a Comment