Gary Schwartz, a disciple of the founder of American improvisation, Viola Spolin, will teach a theater games master class at Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Rd., October 8 to10. In addition, the Spolin Players, including Schwartz, Palisadian Gail Matthius Wirth and other Hollywood professionals and special guests, will perform two improvisational shows, Friday, October 8 and Saturday, October 9 at 8 p.m. ”Spolin originated the first improv company in the country, the Second City players in Chicago. ‘She taught us to ‘follow the follower,” says Matthius, explaining that when two people improvise together, they each follow one another, with no one trying to be the leader. ‘It’s the discovery along the way of what the two minds are finding.’ ”The television show ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’ has popularized improvisation, but may have given people the impression that to improvise they have to be witty and clever. ‘It’s not about how quick a mind you have,’ says Schwartz, who is coming from his home in Washington to teach the class. ‘It’s about accessing your intuitive ability. In Spolin’s improvisation, students respond instantly when they’re totally involved, when they forget about judging themselves and stay in the moment.’ ”Schwartz met Spolin in 1977 when he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career and became her apprentice. ‘I had never heard of Viola Spolin and I dumbly found my way into the class of the woman who invented the whole thing.’ ”In the 1930s, Spolin used games to teach immigrant children English. ‘She learned that games are the best way to teach a skill, without the teacher having to demonstrate or teach by rote,’ Schwartz says. ‘She began to teach theater using those games.’ She went on to work with actors including Mike Nichols and Elaine May. ”Schwartz starts his teaching with traditional games such as tag. ‘We talk about why games are fun, what psychologically happens when you have fun. The players keep this spirit of fun in their theater games, responding intuitively. We have games in which we reflect each other’s emotions and speech, observational games and gibberish games’where you try to communicate without using English.’ ”The games help actors become spontaneous in their work. ‘They are about being present in the moment in a non-intellectual way, and not analyzing every move. Intuition is already there and knows what to do,’ Schwartz says. The games benefit non-actors too. ‘They lose their fear of being in front of groups, replacing anxiety with a willingness to try everything.’ ”Matthius has been doing improv since her days studying theater at Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. She continued performing with improvisation groups as well as performing stand-up comedy when she moved to L.A. in 1979. She was a member of the first cast on ‘Saturday Night Live’ after the original players had left in 1980-1981. ‘A lot of the sketches were created during improvisation,’ Matthius says of SNL. ‘The writers would watch us do improv.’ ”She met up with the Spolin Players in 1986 and began to study with Viola Spolin. The players performed in Hollywood and at the Upfront in Santa Monica, went on a hiatus in the early ’90s and reunited in 2003 when member Dan Castallaneta (the voice of Homer Simpson) won a lifetime achievement award from Second City. ”’Improvisation you flexible, spontaneous and open to any and all variables that can happen on a TV and movie set,’ Matthius says. The group, playing together for 15 years, performs once a month at The Second City Studio Theater next to the Improv on Melrose. ”Matthius describes one of their games called ‘Who Am I?’ One person is sent out of the room and the audience suggests the name of a famous person. When the player comes back, the others interact with him until he is aware of who he is. ”The upcoming Palisades workshop is open to veteran improvisers who want to learn to expand creatively or those new to improvisation who want a solid foundation for the work. The cost is $250 and is limited to 20 players. It will take place Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Send $100 non-refundable deposit to: Intuitive Learning Systems, P.O. Box 1123, North Bend, WA 98045 or register online at www.spolin.com/workshops.html. ”Tickets to the evening shows are $15/$10 students. Contact the box office at 454-1970 for reservations.
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