Impro Improvisation and the Theatre

Keith Johnstone was Associate Artistic Director at the Royal Court Theatre in the late 1950s, helping in particular to run the Writer's Group. The improvisatory techniques and exercises evolved there to foster spontaneity and narrative skills were developed further in the actors' studio, then in demonstrations to schools and colleges and ultimately in the founding of a company of performers called The Theatre Machine.

Divided into four sections, 'Status', 'Spontaneity', 'Narrative Skills' and 'Mask and Trance', arranged more or less in the order a group might approach them, the book sets out the specific techniques and exercises which Johnstone himself found most useful and most stimulating. The result is a fascinating exploration of the nature of spontaneous creativity.

Author: Keith Johnstone 

Publisher: Methuen

Released Date: 2007

ISBN: 9780713687019