At The Pretend Company, we believe improv can be heartfelt and hilarious in equal measure, that it can be theatrical without being self-serious or overly pretentious, and that it can tell stories in a way no other medium can.
This course will take performers with a minimum of 1-to-2 years experience under their belt and cast them into an ensemble of 8-to-10 like-minded artists. That ensemble will be paired with a director who will lead them through 16 weeks of training aimed at instilling the attitudes and techniques needed to become a professional improviser. This can be broken down into four major topics - Connection, Stagecraft, Artistic Voice, and The Show.
Access to this course will be by application only (more info below). We will be running two ensembles this year - one based in Southend directed by Ali James, and one in London directed by Chris Mead and Liam Webber.
While each ensemble will have a lead director, both ensembles will get to work with all three directors as we feel that working with different perspectives makes us better as performers.
This course was designed by Ali, Chris, and Liam to bridge the gap for improvisers who want to create more theatrical work and for actors who want to take on the challenge of improvising theatre. More specifically it’s for: