Maps, directions, and contact information.
Note Other Locations for UnScripted Rep Shows:
Shakespeare Unscripted is performed at Theatre Asylum located at 6320 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA, 90038. One block west of Vine. The cross street is Lillian.
Click here for an interactive Theatre Asylum
map and directions. [Google Maps]
Other things we offer besides great shows and classes.
Check back often, our schedule is updated regularly.
An improvised play in the style of William Shakespeare
Directed by:
Brian Lohmann & Dan O’Connor
Dates:
July 2nd-August 1st
(no show on July 4th)
Times:
Fri, Sat & Sun at 8:00 PM
Where: in San Pedro.
Shakespeare by the Sea - Little Fish Theatre
Little Fish Theater
777 Centre Street (at 8th)
San Pedro, CA 90731
Tickets: $25 ($40 with dinner)
Online via Shakespere by the Sea website
“Shakespeare Unscripted is a superlative example of what theatrical improv should be.” — Improv Review.com
“The real fun lies in anticipating where this patchwork story is going to go next, and in watching the actors doing whatever it takes to keep the narrative afloat.” — L.A. Weekly
“DEATH-DEFYING STUNTS OF IMPROMPTU PARODY…Comically gifted performers (who) fracture the Bard with a right good will….the theatrical equivalent of circus aerialists…these remarkably clever performers fly through the show with the very greatest of ease… all involved keep the laughs coming and the cadence astonishingly Shakespearean.” — F. Kathleen Foley, L.A. Times
GO. “The wit, charm, energy and creativity on display are delightful and entertaining.” — Lovell Estell III, L.A. Weekly
“OUTSTANDLINGLY TALENTED…Hilarious…This is a company worth watching.” — Kate West Reviews
Keith Johnstone is a professor emeritus at the University of Calgary, and The Co-founder of the Loose Moose Theatre. He worked for ten years (1956 - 1966) At England’s Royal Court Theater; at various times he was their chief play-reader, was responsible for the educational work, directed the Royal Court Theatre studio, wrote and directed plays, and became Associate Director of the theatre. He founded The Theatre Machine improvisational Group in England which toured in many countries. Keith taught at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art until he left England, and has taught or given Workshops at major European Theatre Schools and Universities. He is the Author of many plays presented in North America and Europe, and has Directed in several theatres internationally. Keith is the author of “Impro” (Methuen) one of the key books on improvisation, which is translated Into several languages; and also “Impro for Storytellers” (Faber and Faber, (UK)), a guide to teaching improvisation and Theatresports. He also writes a newsletter which is sent to Theatresports internationally. Keith is the inventor of many new forms of improvisation, including Theatresports, Gorilla Theatre and Micetro Impro which, along with his techniques, are now being used worldwide.
Keith Johnstone, author of IMPRO, created Theatresports in 1976 in his acting classes at the University of Calgary, to inject a theatre audience with the passion displayed by sports fans.
Help your organization with improv.
Please select the class listing below that best suits you. Or take a peek at our current schedule of classes.
Join our student company and learn our unique style of improvisation.
Actors and non-actors alike can benefit from our specialty classes. Read the descriptions below and check the schedule for dates and times.
Learn the fundamentals of improv in our Foundation Series. We’ll take you from learning the fundamentals to improvising plays and films. All foundation classes require that you are passed from level to level by the instructor.
It all started back in 1988.
1988 Impro Theatre/LA Theatresports (LATS) is founded in Los Angeles. Begins a ten-year residence at Theatre/Theater.
1989 Triple Play first performed. A play, a film and a musical improvised in three acts each.
1990 LATS hosts the First West Coast Stanislavski Open and invites the best improv and sketch groups of Los Angeles to come play Theatresports, including Culture Clash, The Groundlings, Latins Anonymous and Cold Tofu.
1993 LATS television pilot is shot at the World Famous Laugh Factory. Company member and future Whose Line is it Anyway? star Brad Sherwood’s team takes first place.
1994 LATS hosts the World Mug in conjunction with the FIFA World Cup at nine Southern California venues including the Main Library with guest Branford Marsalis and the final at the Geffen Playhouse. Twenty-two teams attended including Australia, South Africa, Denmark, Holland, England, Canada, the United States and the winning New Zealand.
1995 Wayne Brady joins the company.
1989 to 1999 Six first-place victories at Theatresports Tournaments including Ventura, San Diego, New York, San Francisco, Edmonton and Amsterdam.
1999 LATS begins a critically acclaimed run of Shakespeare UnScripted at the Globe Theatre in West Hollywood. Shakespeare UnScripted later receives standing ovations at NY Improv Fest in 2001, Chicago in 2002, the Paris, France “Improvistival” in 2004, and The Austin Out of Bounds Improv Comedy Festival in 2007.
2000 Improbable Theatre’s production of Keith Johnstone’s LIFEGAME premieres Off-Broadway. The cast includes Artistic Director, Dan O’Connor and Associate Artistic Director, Brian Lohmann. Lifegame is later produced by LATS in Los Angeles.
2003 LATS changes its name to Impro Theatre and expands operations to twin spaces in the Los Feliz area on Vermont.
2004 IT performs Tennessee Williams Unscripted and Shakespeare Unscripted in Paris, France to a standing ovation.
2005 Mike McShane directs Shakov as part of Edgefest in Los Angeles.
2006 IT performs Tennessee Williams UnScripted in Amsterdam, Holland to a standing ovation. IT players compete in Germany as part of the World Cup Arts Program. IT company members improvise Shakespeare in Rep at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. An UnScripted Carol (improvised Dickens) premieres at the Antaeus Theater.
2007 Sondheim UnScripted premieres at Theatre/Theater in Los Angeles.
2008 Shakespeare UnScripted receives standing ovations at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Brian Lohmann is chosen to present a workshop on Shakespeare through Improvisation at the “Page, Stage, Engage” Shakespeare conference at New York University, and teaches for the Public Theatre Shakespeare Lab. Dan O’Connor takes Sondheim UnScripted to Melbourne, Australia. Jane Austen UnScripted premieres to sold-out houses in Los Angeles. Shakespeare UnScripted opens for the Independent Shakespeare Festival at Barnsdall Park in Hollywood.
We are located at 1727 North Vermont, Suite 208 & 211 in Los Feliz, CA. We are just north of Hollywood Blvd. next to the Bank of America. Street parking is readily available.
Please note that we occupy two non-adjacent suites in the building. If you arrive and no one is there, chances are you can walk down the walkway to the other suite and we’ll be waiting there to greet you.
Click here for an interactive Impro Theatre map and directions. [Google Maps]
For tickets, class information and sign ups, or other inquiries, please call:
“Impro Theatre In their improvised, full-length re-creations of works by Jane Austen, Tennessee Williams and other literary luminaries, Dan O’Connor’s troupe finds just the right blend of parody and homage in their witty, erudite entertainments.”
Steven Leigh Morris LA Weekly
LA Weekly 2009 Theatre Top 10
NEW REVIEW GO NEW REVIEW GO! JANE AUSTEN UNSCRIPTED
Oh, what fun to see an improv troupe create a two act drama in the style of a Jane Austen novel, inspired on the night I attended by the audience suggestion “snails.” The show is never the same, though co-director Dan O’Connor did say the company has rehearsed an English country dance that sometimes gets plugged in, sometimes not. And there are of course constant characters whom the company switch in and out of, depending on who’s available on any given night. O’Connor portrayed Mr. Dawson on the night this show was reviewed, a highly reputable fellow engaged in a snarky and pointless dispute with one Miss Amelia Green (the charming Jo McGinley) Much of the plot concerned the ability of these two porcupines to find love - in a Regency English style no less, encumbered by tightly fitting corsets, vests, dinner jackets and ties. Among the moments of high tension was when Amelia’s father (Floyd Van Buskirk) found the prickly lovebirds unescorted in a parlor room, sparking a scandal. There were also gorgeous cameos by Stephen Kearin as the genteel, horse-faced Mr. Robert Walker, and by Lauren Lewis as Amelia’s delightfully bird-brained sister, Rebecca. Eleven first rate comedians performed the night the show was reviewed; somebody hadn’t turned their cell phone all the way off, triggering a whining sound over the speakers, and causing a spontaneous subplot about a swarm of invading bees, and some controversy over whether or not it was decent of Mr. Walker to cure Rebecca’s bee sting by slopping mud on her bare arm. Aside from its breathtaking wit, the show reveals the codes of behavior that accrue into a acting style, and even a social style. This is a comedy about essence rather than substance, revealing how one is so often confused with the other. If there is such a thing as humane comedy, this would be it. Theatre Asylum, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; through Feb. 15. (323) 401-6162. An Impro Theatre production. (Steven Leigh Morris)
“YOU GOTTA GO!…One of the funniest evenings in town is tucked away in a little theater on Santa Monica Boulevard. It’s quite unbelievable, actually—as you sit there expecting “theater”, suddenly two random suggestions come from the audience, and an amazing comedy troupe spins an entire play into comedy gold right before your eyes. It’s called Jane Austen Unscripted, a stunning feat of performance and literary wizardry. And incidentally, it’s hilarious. I promise you, this brainchild of English stand-up and actor Paul Rogan and Impro Theatre’s artistic director Dan O’Connor is magic.”
— Letter from the Editor (Annie Gilbar, Editor-in-Chief), LA Times Magazine
“By the end of the play, the audience has experienced a brand new story in the likes of Jane Austen complete with hearts being broken, secrets being revealed and true love, which is magically resolved as the play comes to a close. But what Jane Austen Unscripted also gives the audience is this unique one-of-a-kind performance that can never be repeated in quite the same way, much like falling in love for the first time and “wishing to be a cloud” in the sky of their beloved. One thing that is for certain is the continued success of this outstanding group of actors and something absolutely not to be missed.”
— SoCal.com
“Company members take a couple of suggestions from the audience and spin an entire Jane Austen styled original play. One hundred percent improvised, the complex plot unfolds, hearts are won, witticisms flung and poetry recited, all in perfect synchronicity. Yes, amazingly enough, the actors are making up the entire dialogue right under your very eyes. It’s like watching a Jane Austen movie that delivers a clever wink to the audience. The accomplished actors also gently acknowledge the occasional transgressions in ad-libbing, turning funny situations into even more humorous turns. The time flies by and when you are transported back to your modern era, you will want to come back for more. Consummate professionals… a brilliant troupe.”
— KateWestReviews.com
“ImproTheatre’s gift lies in far more than improv’s expected one-liners and zingers–rather, their gift is the more subtle and complex art of storytelling in what’s known as Longform improv; the group has won great international acclaim for their takes on Shakespeare, Sondheim musicals, and Tennessee Williams’ drama. This is their first stab at Austen, and a worthy one at that. It is always a thrill to see talented performers (and you’ve probably seen these faces before on your tv or at the movies) dive headlong into the unknown and come up roses (or in last night’s case the vexing “pyrocampia” flower). Although Austen’s work is timeless, ImproTheatre’s Austen Unscripted is by its very nature of its time; Austen would be pleased, indeed.”
LAist.com
Blanche DuBois depended on the kindness of strangers; in “Tennessee Williams UnScripted,” her creator does too. Impro Group is extending its run of improvised plays in the style of the Southern Gothic dramatist. Each performance is a completely different show, sparked by audience members suggesting a month of the year and an animal. Last Saturday at Theatre Asylum, “February” and “polar bear” inspired a fevered saga about two families connected by lust and property. (This is the South, after all.)
Salome (Michele Spears) and Cletis (Brian Lohmann, who also directs) host a “beach picnic” in their greenhouse on a chilly February afternoon for fragile beauty Diane (Jo McGinley) and her ex-con husband, Regis (Stephen Kearin). But it’s a last supper of sorts: While feeding roast chicken to the greenhouse’s carnivorous plants, Cletus announces that their ancestral home is facing foreclosure. Meanwhile, neighboring scion Twitter (Dan O’Connor) romances Salome’s discontented sister (Tracy Burns), fueling the rancor of his Big Daddy, the Rev. Stufflebeam (Floyd Van Buskirk). Sordid revelations, fresh corn bread and lyrical expressions of heartbreak abound.
Christopher Durang’s “For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls” definitively proved how susceptible Williams’ overripe world is to parody. But what’s fresh about “UnScripted” is the way it evokes the playwright’s distinctive sensibility without lapsing into easy satire. The best moments — like Diane’s hushed confession that she seeks advice from a painting of a cat named Princess — manage to be simultaneously funny, moving and absolutely in keeping with Williams’ thematics.
McGinley and Kearin were particularly graceful — imagine “Glass Menagerie’s” Laura Wingfield hooking up with Stanley Kowalski’s more reflective brother. As the reticent son who has yet to crawl out from under his father, O’Connor played it blissfully straight, giving the story some actual stakes; he was counterbalanced by the giddy Spears, whose hormonal Southern hostess repeatedly brought down the house.
Toward the end of the second act, the demands of narrative resolution took some of the air out of the improv, and things turned pretty soapy. A minor quibble. Impro Theatre’s considerable agility and its infectious sense of play makes you want to go back again to see what else this group can conjure next out of Williams’ high humidity.
– Charlotte Stoudt
Impro Theatre presents improvised plays in the style of Tennessee Williams, kick-started by suggestions from the audience and completely different each night. At turns hilarious, absurd and genuinely moving, the evening showcases the troupe’s tremendous agility and infectious sense of play. Irresistible.
CHARLOTTE STOUDT
The audiences tosses in a couple of suggestions at the start of the show, from which Theater Impro spins a full-length improvised drama in the style of Tennessee Williams. Clearly the types are pre-set. Floyd Van Buskirk’s “Daddy” is a compendium of Night of the Iguana’s ex-Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’s Big Daddy. Director Brian Lohmann’s Marquis is a flat-footed, slightly neurotic fellow tossed out of service in WWII by a 4F army classification. His withering self-respect gets crushed beneath the boot of Buddy (Dan O’Connor), home from the service and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. There’s an off-stage Veteran’s Day Parade for atmosphere (one of the audience suggestions was “November,” so there you go.) Tenderly comedic performances also by Jo McGinley as the repressed Widow Oleson and by Tracy Burns as the town slut Loretta, and especially by Lisa Fredrickson as the smart, aging romantic, Charlene. Is there any hope of enduring romance in this isolated mushpot of Williams’ universe? The company guides the drama into a savvy bitter-sweet resolution. This is a tougher challenge than the company’s prior effort, Jane Austen Unscripted, because the types of repression that form the essences of the comedy are comparatively languid in Williams, whereas the Austen sendup sprung from the starched collars and feelings that couldn’t be expressed - because that would have been impolite. Williams’ characters say what’s on the mind, usually two or three times in various poetical incarnations: That’s the detail that these actors nail on the head. Once that joke has arrived, the challenge is to avoid making a glib mockery of Williams’ drawling explications and the sometimes ham-fisted poetry. It’s a trap the company studiously avoids, so that the event lingers somewhere between satire and homage. It’s a very smart choice. Nice cameo also by Nick Massouh. Theatre Asylum, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; through Apri 26. (800) 838-3006. (Steven Leigh Morris)
2009 Top Ten Theatre List
10. Impro Theatre In their improvised, full-length re-creations of works by Jane Austen, Tennessee Williams and other literary luminaries, Dan O’Connor’s troupe finds just the right blend of parody and homage in their witty, erudite entertainments.
“Shakespeare Unscripted is a side-splitting Shakespearean play that has never been written, until the moment that its talented ensemble utter the Bard-like words that issue forth from their verdant imaginations and eager tongues.”
— Anthony Brandon Wong - Full Review
“It was nice to see Shakespeare improvised for style and content rather than just a scene with a few thees and thous thrown in.”
— Improv Review.com - Full Review
“The real fun lies in anticipating where this patchwork story is going to go next, and in watching the actors doing whatever it takes to keep the narrative afloat…”
— L.A. Weekly - Full Review
“As someone with a strong grounding in both improv and
Shakespeare I was fascinated at their ability to be true to the
spirit of the plays and at the same time put a comic spin on their
style. That’s not an easy thing to do under the best circumstances
much less when you have 8-10 players all working to keep
numerous narrative balls in the air together and keep an audience
entertained. they kept the crowd entertained, and not just by the obvious bits but by the material they created that showed the most fidelity to Shakespeare. It was fascinating and delightful.”
-Robert Faires, Arts Editor, Austin Chronicle
An outstanding cast that clearly understands the form they are spoofing and have the vocal power to sustain it.”
— LA Weekly - Full Review
“Hilarious…an elaborate mélange of secret loves and sibyl rivalries complete with Austenian touches. Austen would be pleased indeed.”
Laist.com - Full Review
“…again the cast delved straight into a familial saga of lust and glass snakes… splashed liberally with vodka and sweated out in a hot sauna.”
— LA Weekly - Full Review
“Substitute an ensemble well-versed in improvisational wickedness, add dramaturgical history and unforeseeable audience suggestions, and the result couldn’t be more hilarious than this latest offering from the recently renamed Impro Theatre.”
— Backstage West - Full Review
“the talents of their entourage with quick wit and improv skills that have to be seen to be believed.”
— NoHo>LA - Full Review
” . . . you can be sure that the evening will have you laughing so hard that you will be exhausted when it is over.”
— Daily Trojan - Full Review
Interview with Jo McGinley, Educational Director of Impro Theatre.
— Backstage West - Full Story
Our foundation classes will help you develop your improvisation skills for your work, whether you’re already comfortable improvising and want to hone your skills, or you’re just starting out. Our specialty classes can also offer a lot to actors, from character development, to nailing auditions.
If you’re not an actor by trade, you can also benefit from learning improvisational skills. Many people take our foundation classes and find themselves more comfortable in their interactions with people in their daily life. Often times our students will come thinking that they just want to try out improv, and decide that they love it so much that they start taking specialty classes as well.
Once you’ve completed the foundation series, you may be eligible for our ongoing performance class, Unscripted Plays and Films. Instructor approval required.
323.401.6162