Improv 1: Intro | Improv II: Art of Improv | Combo: Improv I & 2 | Improv III: Scenes | Advanced Improvisation| Improv IV: Theater | Master Classes | Retreat
ALL CLASS SCHEDULES ARE LISTED IN USA PACIFIC TIME
Our online classes are here to stay! The world is opening up again and Synergy Theater will be reintroducing live, in-person classes in March of 2022. But our Online School of Improv is just too good to give up! Check out our online offerings for 2022!
Synergy Theater’s School of Improvisation provides world-class training and education in the art of improvisational theater. Our classes are taught by Synergy Theater company members including Artistic Director Kenn Adams, author of the book How to Improvise a Full-Length Play: The Art of Spontaneous Theater. With a full progression of classes, we have something for everyone. So, whether you’re looking for a friendly place to have some fun or a professional training program with an eye towards performance, Synergy Theater’s School of Improvisation is the place for you.
In-person classes return in March of 2022 at SHOTGUN STUDIOS, 1201 University Ave, Berkeley, CA
ONLINE IMPROV I: INTRO TO IMPROV
Get creative, make new friends, and have a blast with Synergy Theater’s introductory improv class. You’ll learn our Three Rules of Improvisation—be spontaneous, make your partner look good, and build on your partner’s idea—and, in no time flat, you’ll be making up stories, creating outrageous characters and improvising your way through hysterical scenes, sagas and sketches. This class will tickle your funny bone, spark your imagination and inspire your creativity. Take it once, on your way to our next-level class, or stick around and enjoy it as long as you like!
Instructors: Griffen Davis Bier, Arastoo Darakhshan / $80 for six 90-min classes
ONLINE IMPROV I & II TOGETHER!
Get creative, make new friends, and just have a blast with Synergy Theater’s introductory improv class. You’ll learn our patented Three Rules of Improvisation – be spontaneous, make your partner look good, and build on your partner’s idea – and, in no time flat, you’ll be making up stories, creating outrageous characters and improvising your way through hysterical scenes, sagas and sketches. Through a fun and exciting series of theater-games, improv exercises and classic “short-form” scene-structures, this class will tickle your funny bone, spark your imagination and inspire your creativity.
In the second half of class, we explore improvisation as more than just a means for personal growth, a social activity, or a tool for the actor. We explore improvisation as a performing art; the art of spontaneous theater. We continue to deepen and expand our application of the Three Rules of Improvisation. Plus, we begin to focus on the basics of acting such as diction, vocal projection, stage presence and stagecraft; the basics of directing such as stage movement and visual storytelling, and the basics of playwriting such as scene structure and story structure.
Instructors: Griffen Davis Bier, Arastoo Darakhshan / $150 for six 3-hour classes
ONLINE IMPROV II: THE ART OF IMPROVISATION
At the very least, you are an improviser, actor, director and playwright. In IMPROV II, we explore improvisation as more than just a means for personal growth, a social activity, or a tool for the actor. We explore improvisation as a performing art; the art of spontaneous theater. We continue to deepen and expand our application of the Three Rules of Improvisation: be spontaneous, make your partner look good and build on your partner’s idea. Plus, we focus on the basics of acting: diction, vocal projection, stage presence and stagecraft; the basics of stage movement and visual storytelling, and of playwriting such as scene structure and story structure. For those who have taken and enjoyed IMPROV I and are ready for something more.
Instructors: Griffen Davis Bier, Arastoo Darakhshan / $80 for six 90-min classes
ONLINE IMPROV III: SCENE STUDY
The heart of improvisation is the solid, two-person scene. What Synergy Theater refers to as the “substantial scene.” In IMPROV III we break it apart and rebuild it from the bottom up. We focus on:
- Scene structure
- Building and using the environment
- Character development
- Character relationship
The work in this class comes directly from Artistic Director Kenn Adams’ book, How to Improvise a Full-Length Play: The Art of Spontaneous Theater.
For those with an eye towards performance, this class is an invaluable next step.
Instructor: Kenn Adams / $150 for six 2-hour classes
ONLINE IMPROV IV: IMPROVISING THEATER
In this advanced-level class, we’ll dive deep into the necessary skills of the Improviser (with a capital I): improvisation, acting, directing and playwriting. Then, we’ll put it all together as we introduce various mid and long-form performance structures such as The Harold, The Montage, and the Mono-scene. we’ll focus on:
- Tapping into our “core spontaneity” and living “in the zone”
- Intense partner connection via the Meisner acting technique
- Complete character development and truthful emotions
This is the class that will empower you to stop “doing improv” and start improvising theater.
Instructor: Kenn Adams / $150 for six 2-hour classes
ONLINE MASTER CLASSES & WORKSHOPS
AUDIO ONLY IMPROV! NEW CLASS!
Offered on Mondays at 9:00 am PT and Wednesdays at 4:00 pm PT
Lean into intensive listening, heightened partner-connection, verbal character creation, descriptive scene painting, and a sharpened imagination in our brand-new Audio-Only Improv class! We turn off our videos, close our eyes and improvise fantastically vivid scenes, montages and radio-style plays. Taught by Kenn Adams, this class is limited to eight students with a minimum of one year of improvisation training or performance experience. Instructor: Kenn Adams / $200 for six 2-hour classes / 8 student max
THE HERO’S JOURNEY! NEW CLASS!
Offered on Tuesdays at 7:00 pm, Wednesdays at 11:00 am, and Fridays at 9:00 am PT
This exciting new class will explore storytelling through the use of the famous “Hero’s Journey” as written about by Joseph Campbell in his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”. Using this world-famous model that has been widely embraced by Hollywood screenwriters, we’ll explore the power of myth and the depth of the archetype as we learn send our heroes off on fantastic adventures untold! Taught by Kenn Adams, this class is limited to eight students with a minimum of one year of improvisation training or experience. Instructor: Kenn Adams / $200 for six 2-hour classes / 8 student max
HOW TO IMPROVISE A FULL-LENGTH PLAY
Offered on Mondays at 11:00 am PT and Fridays at 11:00 am PT
How to Improvise a Full-Length Play is taught by Kenn Adams and based on the process that he writes about in his book, How to Improvise a Full-Length Play: The Art of Spontaneous Theater. The class is limited to six students with a minimum of one year of improvisation training or performance experience. Instructor: Kenn Adams/ $200 for six 2-hour classes / 6 student max
CREATING CHARACTERS
Offered on Wednesdays at 9:00 am PT
Learn to create living, breathing three-dimensional characters with unique physicality, truthful behavior, and emotional depth; characters with a psychology, morality and world-view that guide their actions; and characters with needs that serve the story and build off the other characters in the scene. Taught by Kenn Adams, the class is limited to eight students with a minimum of one year of improvisation training or performance experience. Instructor: Kenn Adams / $200 for six 2-hour classes / 8 student max
IMPROVISING THEME, SYMBOLISM AND METAPHOR
Offered on Tuesdays at 11:00 am and Fridays at 4:00 pm PT
Great theater speaks to its audience in a universal language that transcends the plot and deepens the play. Its unique vocabulary is theme, symbolism and metaphor. In this 6-week master class, we’ll learn how to turn our improvised scene’s location, objects, characters, and external conditions, such as weather, into symbols that represent a deeper meaning, and how to use that deeper meaning towards discovering and illustrating a theme. Taught by Kenn Adams, this class is limited to eight students with a minimum of one year of improvisation training or performance experience. Instructor: Kenn Adams/ $200 fox 6 2-hour classes / 8 student max
PLAYWRITING
Offered on Tuesdays at 9:00 am PT, beginning in February 2022
A great Improviser is at least four different things: improviser, actor, director and playwright! This intro to playwriting class is great for playwrights and improvisers alike!
AWESOME IMPROV RETREAT
The point of the weekend is to have a blast while exploring the art of improvisation on a deeper level than the standard improv class allows. We’ll start with enough of the basics to make sure that everybody is on the same page and ready to move forward together. Then, we’ll dive deep into various elements of the art of improvisation. In the past, we’ve focused on large areas such as ensemble building, scene structure and deep-spontaneity, as well as more specific skills such as character development, gibberish, and spontaneous writing.
Due to Covid-19 our Fall 2020 Awesome Improv Retreat has been postponed until further notice.
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