Improvisational Acting - article by MOREinfo-About.com

Improvisational Acting

Improvisational acting is just what the term implies...acting which is based on improvisation rather than on a scripted play. When improvisation is used as a tool for acting training, it can be used in several ways. Sometimes an instructor may give a basic situation as a starting point, and acting will begin at that point and then proceed spontaneously with each character acting out his own response to the situation. In other cases, one member of the cast, or acting group, will simply begin by establishing a situation through opening dialogue, and another actor will pick up on this, acting out and speaking a response, and on and on.

Using improvisational acting - or improv as it is commonly called - has both advantages and disadvantages, and while it may have an important place in developing acting techniques, it should not be relied upon entirely. Improvisational acting has the advantage of "loosening up" young performers, as they are not restrained by a script. It encourages imagination, spontaneity and learning to respond directly to another's acting.

There are some pitfall to improvisational acting, both in the training arena and in performance. Improv acting does not require the discipline of learning lines, developing a specific character or following a story line. Improvisational acting also presents the danger of wandering aimlessly off into nowhere, with no plot line, no climax and no denoument or conclusion. In acting training it can offer an easy out for those who dislike a disciplined approach to the acting art.

Improvisational acting can be a good tool in a program to train children and young people.. Youngsters who are too young to study a script can be taught through improvisational acting, allowing them to unselfconsciously perform in an imaginative way. Basic techniques of body language and vocal expression can be taught in other ways. Performances for parents and friends at the end of a study period can include improvisational acting, giving children an opportunity to appear before a sympathetic audience.

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