CommediaDellImprovShow

Commedia Dell'Improv:

The Commedia Show

Theory

Commedia looks like a great way to learn narrative, an interesting chance to work on long form, and dammit, it looks like fun.

To that end, we're putting together an all-Commedia improv show.

Show Objective?

Simply put, why are we doing this show?

Mainly, this is an 'etude show,' designed as an exercise to get us to work on narrative. Working in Commedia ensures that certain difficult tasks are taken care of. The settings are pre-established. We know the broad strokes of our characters going into it. We have a limited number of plots available.

In hard-core blank-stage scenework, we try to spin all of these plates at once. In Commedia, we will focus exclusively on building an effective plot for a long-form piece.

Plus, we're going to pick a fun genre and have a good time with it. 1

Show Format?

What is this show that we're putting on? What's going to happen? Ideally, this is the section where we go from vague ideas of what we'll do with Commedia to a full script that includes everything but the improv (as we did with the Silent Show or Fast Forward

I (Peter) see these main possibilities:

1. We pick one genre, and do a 90-minute piece in that genre.
2. We pick several genres, and do several "medium-form" pieces to fill the same time frame.
3. We do short-form commedia, and come up with some gamey concept to tie the show together.

Show Logistics?

Some important questions to address:

• Rehearsals:

  • When?
  • Where?
  • How often?
  • For how long?
  • How will we use rehersal time to reach a point where we can do effective [long-form Commedia?

• Performance:

  • When?
  • Where? At the Hideout? At another venue?
  • Will this be a Heroes Lab Show?
  • How much will it cost?

• Cast:

  • Who wants to be involved?
  • Who has time for this project?
  • Who do we want in the cast?

• Promotion:

  • What will we do regarding...

    • ... posters?
    • ... fliers?
    • ... newspaper advertising?
    • ... radio advertising?
    • ... email spam?
    • ... making damn sure our show gets pimped during Micetro and Gorilla? (Provided we do it as a Heroes Lab Show.)
  • We should do a 'dry run' of Commedia at No Shame, both to try it out in front of an audience and to pimp the full-length show to the No Shame crowd.

Show Genre(s)?

Which genre(s) do we want to do in the show?

Road Map (Under Construction)

Here's how we get from our vague ambitions to a completed show:

Preparation

• Decide on a genre

• Research the genre extensively

  • Come up with character set
  • Come up with stock plots

  • Come up with stock settings

    • Ideally, some good props to have around
• Get good at long form

Performance Logistics

• Determine performance time
• Determine performance frequency
• Determine performance location
• Determine performance cost

Footnotes

1 Speaking only for myself (Peter), I find 'do an episode of a medical drama' far more evocative, inspiring, and exciting than 'show up on a blank stage and do something' -- even though, in a Venn-diagram sense, the latter includes the former. :)