Ferran Luengo - 'In Someone Else's Shoes'

Inspired by playback theatre, this workshop is focused on using and developing our improv skills so we can take stories from the audience and elevate them into art using some basic structures and forms. We'll work with many tools for playing with symbolism and we'll learn to identify underlying emotions to take them further. The cherry on the top will be a mixer show where we'll put all these things together.

FERRAN LUENGO is an actor, improviser and applied theatre practitioner from València, Spain. He juggles with improvising, scripted acting, and bringing playback theatre to diverse social collectives.

 

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Jay Wang - 'Pocket Galaxies - The Art of Improvised Worldbuilding'

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Think of the most immersive books, movies, and TV shows that you’ve ever experienced- chances are they were built on the foundations of a rich universe carefully crafted by scriptwriters and directors. In this workshop, we will tackle the fundamentals of crafting detailed worlds on stage: from grounded, real characters to the mythology of entire civilizations. Participants will share in the delight of building these worlds quickly from scratch, then populating them with the characters and stories that are the meat of any engrossing improv scene.

JAY WANG is an improv actor, teacher, and corporate training facilitator based in Beijing, China. His improv education has taken him all over the world, starting with UCB in his hometown New York to cities with distinctive improv ecosystems such as Chicago, Manila, Melbourne, Singapore, and Tokyo. He performs regularly with Beijing Improv in Beijing, as well as at international improv festivals. He’s super excited to try the Ulster fry in Belfast!
 

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Luana Proença - 'Viewpoints'

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How can we be fully aware of what we create while we are creating? How can we let ourselves be in flow and make choices at the same time? Using Viewpoints of Time and Space by Anne Bogart and Tina Landau, we will find tools for Improv performances to help us with simple things as remembering where improvised objects are, to more deep issues of movement and presence in the scene.

LUANA PROENÇA is a Brazilian actress, director, teacher, playwright, and improviser. She was a College Teacher in Acting and Directing, and had her own Theatre School and Producer in the city of Brasília for 8 years. She is part of the Brazilian Improv group Saída Sul (South Exit), with which she developed her longform solo show "Random". Now based in Portugal, she teaches and coordinates Improv Master Classes with the Impro Lab project, which she created.

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Monica Gaga - 'Inclusive Playing'

What is an inclusive player? In this workshop explore the ways you can be an improviser who makes others look good, feel safe and have fun. Be an improviser who can challenge others in a supportive way if they are feeling unheard, othered or made to feel uncomfortable. Improv is for everyone so let's ensure no-one gets left behind (including you).

MONICA GAGA is a British-born Black African queer improviser, facilitator and the proud host of the inaugural Hoopla UK and Ireland Improv Festival. If the festival is one big party, then Monica is the host that is going to make sure everyone has a great time and feels included.

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Tom Tollenaere - 'Character-Driven Narrative'

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As improvisers we invent stories; by training we are good at that. But in this workshop we will steer away from explicit storytelling. Instead we will focus on defining what really drives a character. We will learn this by practicing scene setups, both in one-character and multi-character situations. Playing in this style is not difficult, but it does take some practice - in this workshop you will learn the tools for such practice. This is a tremendously fun way to play – consider it another tool in your toolkit. It can be applied to both short form and long form, and is not limited to narrative-based styles of improv.

TOM TOLLENAERE has been training and coaching improvisers since 1999. Today, he focuses on 2 key areas: Musical improv, where he teaches improvisers how to improvise songs, and incorporate music and song into improvised performances for both short-form and long-form, and Character-driven narrative, focusing mainly on long-form performances. As a teacher Tom likes to take students away from the ordinary here & now. He is a strong proponent of making bold character choices and a big fan of monologues. Tom writes extensively about improv theory on his blog tomsimprovpages.wordpress.com and has been editing & maintaining ImprovEncylopedia.org, the largest reference site devoted to improv, since 1999.

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Lester Isaac Simon - 'The Improv That Scares You'

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Based in part on meditation practice and lots of literature, this workshop is all about playing with our fears, this workshop is all about playing our fears. Participants confront fears - general improv fears as well as their specific own, if they wish to share - via exercises, scene work, games, and feedback. Topics covered in this workshop are as follows, can/will be expanded upon.

Stillness and Silence
Emotional Vulnerability
Breaking Through Feeling Judged
Receiving and Giving Criticism
Silliness as Truth
Unlocking Scary Places in Your Imagination

This workshop is designed to give players the opportunity to face their fears, find fun in shadowy places they often dare not go, and unlock wellsprings of love and emotion roaring to escape. At it’s heart, it’s about Yes, And-ing yourself.

LESTER ISAAC SIMON
Isaac is an improv performer, educator, and nerd king from Boston currently residing in the Netherlands. He has performed and taught in the US and Europe for over a decade, and is the co-founder of Tag Out Theatre and the Amsterdam Improv Marathon. As a lifelong student of improv in an international context, Isaac’s performing and teaching combines organic, freeform play with empathy and finding momentous moment to moment joy.

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