Longform Improvisation For Actors
w/ Jessica Messenger
Course Outline | Course Outcomes | Session Details | Apply Now
Course Overview
Jump into improvisation with Jessica Messenger, Perth based improviser, playwright and theatre director. Messenger is one half of Jane Austen inspired comedy duo ‘Sense & Spontaneity’, a completely improvised comic tour-de-force that has played sold-out seasons across multiple festivals and fringe seasons throughout Western Australia and the Eastern States.
Improvisation isn’t just for clowns and comedians. Messenger’s four-week course will explore how improvisation can be used to develop deeply complex characters, truthful dramatic and emotional moments, improvised long-form narrative structures and inform text-based theatrical processes. Working with theories from Laban, Stanislavski, Anne Bogart and father of improvisation Keith Johnstone the course focuses on overcoming barriers to improvisation, taking risks, failing happily and obeying your first impulse.
About Our Perth StudioCourse Outline
In this acting course you will learn;
- Week One : Jump into Improvisation. Learn how to ‘fail happily’, by taking risks, acting on your first impulse and learning how to go with the improv flow.
- Week Two : Improvising from the Outside In. Using techniques Laban, Bogart and Johnstone learn how to use physicality, and outside forces to create complex characters and storylines.
- Week Three : Improvising from the Inside Out. Drawing on the work of Stanislavski and Michael Chekov, use embodied emotions, core objectives and actions to create complex relationships between characters.
- Week Four : Narrative Structure.Pull it all together, using common longform improvisation formats and a basic understanding of narrative structure to create completely improvised stories with a coherent narrative structure.
Course Outcomes
At the end of the course, students will understand that improvisation is a learned skill not an ‘innate talent’ that anyone can become capable of employing. They will leave with a variety of new techniques in their improv ‘toolbag’ used to overcome common inhibitions that stand in the way of effective improvisation. They will have practised developing characters, scenes and storylines using improvisation and learned how to playfully take risks, accept offers and the importance of embracing a willingness to change on stage.
Session Details
When: 4 x Thursday’s
Dates: 21st November – 12th December 2019
Time: 6pm – 9pm
Venue: 19 Blinco Street, Fremantle (Fibbonacci Centre)
Participants: 14
Price: $288.00 incl GST
Session Details
Payment Information
How To Pay & Instalment Option: The easiest way to pay is by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) using the bank details on the invoice (please quote the invoice number in the transfer information), or by simply clicking the ‘pay online’ link also on the invoice (bank fees apply). You will be email an invoice upon acceptance into the program. Payment is due no later than the due date stated on the invoice, however if you would like to pay in instalments please call or email the office to arrange the dates and amounts you will pay. Please note full payment of the course is due by the time the course finishes. You can start payment instalments at anytime upon receipt of the invoice.
About Jessica Messenger
Jessica Messenger is a Western Australian playwright, performer and director. Her work has been showcased as a part of Playwriting Australia’s National Script Workshop (Sydney, 2012), National Play Festival (Perth, 2013) and the International Women Playwrights Conference (Capetown, 2015). Credits include the award-winning Multiverse Theory in D (Best Musical Production, PAWA 2015), The Standover Man (Subiaco Theatre Festival 2014), The Night Guardian (PICA 2014, Subiaco Theatre Festival 2015), and 10,000 (The Blue Room Summer Nights 2015, Subiaco Theatre Festival 2017). Messenger is one half of Jane Austen inspired comedy duo Sense and Spontaneity. Perth’s ‘recurring improvisational wonder’ (Artshub, 2014) have toured throughout regional Western Australia and performed multiple times at Fringe World, Fremantle Festival, Fremantle Heritage Festival and Adelaide Fringe Festival to sold-out audiences, and rave reviews. Sense & Spontaneity have also produced two viral rap videos ‘Dear Mr Darcy’ and ‘Headstrong Obstinate Girl’ receiving multiple awards at comedy short film festivals. In improvisation, Messenger has trained extensively with Glenn Hall (Just Improvise), Sam Longley (Lazy Susans Comedy Lounge) and The Experience Lab. She has worked as an acting and dramaturgical coach with Famous Sharon and has experience writing for video games (Battlestar Galactica: Deadlock, Blacklab Games), sketch comedy and solo performance. Messenger directed Multiverse Theory in D, as a part of the 2015 Blue Room Development Season 2, and both seasons of The Standover Man. She has also worked as a Director on Famous Sharon’s Love Match, Underemployment the Musical and Pupperotica Come Again, Pupperotica Menage Toi, and Pupperotica Foreplay and a number of touring Theatre in Education productions.
About Our Perth Studio
Apply For The Course
Please fill out the below form with contact details and some quick info about why you would like to join the workshop and we’ll get back to you asap with further details. If you have any further questions however, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly on the below number.
Perth Acting Classes
Contact Us
For further questions or queries please contact us directly during 10am – 5pm / Monday – Friday on the below details:
- Office: 0411 160 556
- Email:courses@thehubstudio.com.au
Further Questions
The HubStudio prides itself on helping all actors to facilitate their training journey. If you would like more information about this course, or more importantly which courses would suit you best, then please email or call us to discuss your training goals.
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