The theatre department at Fort Lewis College tried something new this semester by having seven students collectively create a sketch comedy out of improv.
The theatre department added the sketch comedy “Un-Educated” to the fall program this year to challenge actors and provide audiences with a popular genre of comedy, Ginny Davis, the theatre department chair, said.
The guest artists who directed the comedic production this semester, Mary Quinn and Mary Mahoney, have worked with Second City which is an improv sketch comedy school in Chicago. Quinn, who is an FLC alumnus, directed the production and taught the actors improvisation while Mahoney directed the musical aspects, Izabella Gray, the lead in “Un-Educated,” said.
Quinn and Mahoney taught improv to the actors for the first few weeks until they were comfortable with creating material as a cast. Writing the script started with the students bringing their life experiences to rehearsal and acting them out through improv, Gray said.
Some of the show’s scenes had songs about traveling abroad and witches casting spells on FLC students, along with skits about birth control and climate change. The performance also included subject matter about school shootings and mental health that were scripted and not performed comedically, Gray said.
“These are real topics,” Gray said. “These are all real things that happen, so we want to talk about it, shove it in people’s faces, make them laugh about it.”
Although most of “Un-Educated” is scripted, Zoe Larsen, who was an actress in the show, used improvisation for most of her lines. There were times throughout the show when actors would add in an improvised line to mess with their fellow cast members, Gray said.
The last 10 minutes of the show were complete improv, and the actors played games to involve the audience who shouted out ideas to set up scenes. During the first weekend of performances, one of the improv segments had Gray revealing how much Buffy the Vampire Slayer she had been watching recently, she said.
“It’s kind of surprising when you say something that’s completely out of your life,” Gray said.
A lesson the actors were taught is to never say no and always say yes, meaning when a subject is brought to the scene it is never denied but is fully embraced by the scene members, Gray said.
“Improv is truth, it’s reality, so you want to play it as real as you can.” Gray said, “You want to react as real as you can. If your reaction is ‘What the hell?’ then you do it, and you make it fit in the scene.”
The theatre department hasn’t had an improv sketch comedy since Davis has been with FLC, which has been for over 20 years, she said.
“We try to make sure that in a four-year time period students are getting a wide variety of styles and things under their belt.” David said, “It was time. We haven’t done anything like this so we thought we’d give it a shot and it’s such a great training tool for other types of acting too.”
Ginny Davis, the new theatre department chair, replaced Dennis Elkins last August and also stepped in as the temporary technical director. The budget cuts from last year left the department without a lecturer position for technical theatre, and Davis is managing those responsibilities this year, she said.
A technical director manages the artistic elements of a production, which includes scenic, lighting, sound and prop design, Davis said.
The theatre department is currently searching for a tenure-track lecturer to start next year, Davis said. Alex Winterle, a guest artist, will temporarily act as the technical director next semester to design the spring show, she said.
Leanne Brubaker, the technical director at the FLC concert hall, has helped with the theatre’s lighting designs this semester, Davis said.
“I think we’re in a transition period and I think it’s for the better,” Davis said. “I think our students feel it and I think donors feel it. It’s a good atmosphere here.”