Glass City Improv and Spoken Toledo collaborate
Often the idea of improvisational theater or “improv” is fixed on short-form, comedy-driven pieces— games where the performers come up with jokes quickly off the top of their head. But there can be much more to improv— full performances based upon long-form stories, built from the smallest of suggestions.
Demonstrating to Toledo audiences what the performance style can do has been the focus of Glass City Improv (GCI). Launched in 2018 by three veterans of the Chicago improv scene, Glass City Improv has put on regular shows at the Valentine Theatre while also conducting classes for new performers.
GCI’s next show, held at the Valentine’s Studio A on Friday, October 4, is, perhaps, their most experimental: A collaborative performance with storytelling event organizers Spoken Toledo, where cast and audience members will share stories, and the improvised portion of the evening will be partially informed and shaped by the tales that are told. The theme for the evening is, “I’m New Here.”
Joint venture
“’I’m New Here’ is a joint effort between us and Spoken Toledo, a group that promotes the craft of storytelling. They’ve been doing their thing for a couple of years now and so we decided to get together and work collaboratively,” said Diana DePasquale, co-founder of Glass City Improv with Erin Kanary and Nick Morgan.
The stories— focused on people being introduced to unfamiliar situations— will be told by both members of the show’s cast and members of the audience who volunteer. DePasquale will be one of the storytellers, as well as one of the performers using the tales spun as inspiration for the improvised performance.
“Most people who have an idea of what improv is have a limited exposure thanks to what they see on ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’ on TV,” DePasquale said. “They’ve actually seen long form before, it just hasn’t been called ‘long-form
improv.’”
DePasquale cites how a great many sitcoms and movie performers hone their skills through training in improvisational techniques, and many films— including comedies like Bridesmaids— give their actors the freedom to go completely unscripted and invent dialogue on the fly.
People are astounded
Glass City Improv’s founders have worked together for over four years now, first developing an adult improv program at the Toledo Rep before breaking off to launch their own group. In addition to special events like “I’m New Here,” GCI holds “The Monthly” on the last Friday of each month. They have also introduced a new show called “The Regular,” where instructors, group members and students all perform together in long-form improv sessions.
“I’ve been performing in The Monthly for a year and a half now, and people really seem to like long-form [improv],” DePasquale said. “We tell them, and we want to really emphasize that Nick, Erin and myself will improvise for almost a half hour based on one single suggestion. People are usually really astounded by that.”
DePasquale said this new collaboration with Spoken Toledo is a great chance to introduce audiences to new styles of theater. “I think it’s really gonna be exciting, because it combines two really impactful forms, storytelling and improvisation. I hope that [the audience] has fun, hears some really interesting and relatable stories and that they laugh.”
$10 | 8:30pm | Friday, October 4
Valentine Theatre’s Studio A, 410 Adams St.
419-407-6082 | glasscityimprov.com
