Improv-a-nation at Bloomsburg University
Imagine looking at your reflection in a mirror and watching it match your every move. It doesn’t sound too out of the ordinary, at least not until it’s your turn to be the reflection.
Imagine looking at your reflection in a mirror and watching it match your every move. It doesn’t sound too out of the ordinary, at least not until it’s your turn to be the reflection. “Mirroring,” an improvisational game to help actors with their technique, is one of the many improv games practiced at Bloomsburg University’s improv group “Improv-a-nation.”Run by Bloomsburg Theatre Majors Dan Acor, Scott Harrar, Aaron Roberge, and BU graduate Adam Johnson, the group offers a variety of games that benefit actors.
“The group started because a couple of acting students wanted to get together and practice/perform improv techniques which help the actor in many ways, whether it be with comedic timing, building a character out of the dialogue, or just get used to being in front of people,” says Roberge. “We do a variety of improv games that range from building a scene, to the dating game. There might be one or two games that we tend to go back to because we are familiar with them, but if there is a game that we feel can help us grow as actors we are willing to try it. Most recently we have been working on improving a full-length scene and the goal is in the future to improv a full play.”
When asked what the most interesting thing someone has come up with during an improv game, Roberge replied, “I don’t think there is one thing that one person came up with that stands out; for me the moments that stand out in my head are the ones where the whole group works well together and moves a scene along heightening the action and building a cohesive world together. Those times are often the most fun and the funniest as well.”
While Roberge and other theatre majors run the group, it is not restricted to majors.
“The group is open to anybody and everybody who would like to have fun and improve their acting skills.”
The group generally meets Tuesdays and Fridays from 5 – 6 pm in the Theatre Lab behind the bookstore. If you’re a theatre major or someone interested in theatre, be sure to check it out. And if you don’t know the first thing about improv, just pretend you do. Creating imaginary circumstances to act in is what improv is all about.
(Image provided by Creative Commons)
