as you want it – the improvised movie night

A few scripted words on the University Players’ first unscripted show

By Clara Kasten

In The Beginning

I think it’s fair to say that when I first came to our producer at the time with the idea of an improvised show as a full-fledged winter production, it took a giant leap of faith on their part to give me the go-ahead. After all, while the UPs had met irregularly and in varying constellations to play some improv games, two full weeks of improv shows seemed like a very far-fetched idea. How do you have auditions for a show with no characters, no scenes, no lines whatsoever, and how do you prepare for it? Aptly enough, even the process for this was entirely improvised. Sure, I watched a lot of improv, and I even purchased and read a couple of books on the topic, but there still wasn’t a blueprint for any of this.

How do you have auditions for a show with no characters, no scenes, no lines whatsoever, and how do you prepare for it?

I knew where I wanted us to end up. I fell in love with the British company “Mischief Theatre” – famous for developing various takes on their original play “The Play That Goes Wrong” – and their Improv Show “Mischief Movie Night”. And after catching various live shows at the Edinburgh Fringe in the summer of 2021, I had a pretty good idea of what our show could look like. But how to train a newly assembled group of 12 people in the necessary skills and have them function as a well-oiled machine? The question I get asked all the time: HOW DO YOU REHEARSE FOR IMPROV? Finding the answer was trial and error. All those little improv games that teach us how to listen, how to let go of plans, how to trust, and – of course – how to “Yes, and” turned out to be vital and what we spent the better part of our three-month rehearsal period with. Only after we had a common ground of skills to rely on did I start stitching the pieces together and diving headfirst into long-form Improv. 

Showtime

For those who haven’t been yet, this is how the show works: Our host, “Tony,” welcomes the audience to their home cinema, where they get to choose a genre, a location, and the name of the movie we are about to watch. Then we put 45 minutes on the clock, and it’s off to the races: making up characters, names, and relationships and even breaking into song along the way. The cast jump into the abyss of the unknown, holding hands, knowing they’ll be there to catch each other if they stumble. No one knew for sure if this was going to work until that unforgettable opening night, where people found love at the beach in the evening’s first half’s RomCom. Meanwhile, a villainous princess in love with a raven was murdered by mutated pandas in the second half’s dystopian movie. If that doesn’t tell you how wildly different and truly unpredictable each and every night and show is, I don’t know what will. 

The cast jump into the abyss of the unknown, holding hands, knowing they’ll be there to catch each other if they stumble.

Where we are now

Which is precisely why, when our initial run of ten shows at the Audimax in January 2023 came to its end, for once, it didn’t feel like we were done. There was a desire to keep going, to keep exploring new genres and stories and honing our skills. And thanks to our fantastic new producer, Michel, our urge to go on was fulfilled: Now you can catch us performing semi-regularly at “Die Motte” in Altona! And since every night is different and new, it is yet to get old – and I don’t think it ever will.

Photo (c) University Players