A (brief) history of improvisational theatre.

(Representação de um espetáculo de Commedia dell'Arte)

Improvisational theatre, or simply IMPROV, is a form of theatre in which performances are created spontaneously, without a script, text, or prior planning. Actors develop scenes, dialogues, and actions in the moment, often based on suggestions from the audience or on simple, pre-established ideas. To do this, actors use unique techniques and tools that allow them to avoid the chaos of improvisation without rules. But let's get to the history of this wonderful art form.

Improvisational theatre has its origins in very ancient cultural practices, where improvisation was a form of artistic expression in various cultures. In Ancient Greece, actors could adjust their speeches to take into account the audience's reactions during their performances. Much later, in 16th-century Italy, the Commedia dell'Arte emerged, consensually considered one of the first organized forms of improvisational theatre – the actors used pre-determined sets (the so-called "canovacci") and archetypal characters (such as Harlequin and Columbine), but their dialogues and all their actions were entirely improvised. Combining this with an ability to address contemporary themes, the actors were able to better connect with the audience in the different cities and towns they visited.

However, in the 19th century, variety theatre emerged, and we can even see some elements of it today in our Portuguese Revue, where actors use "buchas," a kind of aside to allow the use of references not present in the text, in order to insert current and relevant themes within a more structured format. In 1946, Viola Spolin (USA) founded the Young Actors Company in Hollywood, where she trained children from the age of six in the initial forms of her Theatre Games system for her artistic productions. Later, she conducted improvisational game rehearsals with the Compass Theatre and published "Improvisation for the Theatre," a game manual that remains a reference for teachers and educators in all areas of stage arts training. A few years later, Keith Johnstone (England), who would later be considered a central figure in modern improvisational theatre, created the "Theatresports" format and published several books on the subject of improvisation, most notably "Impro for Storytellers" and "Impro". Then, in 1959, Second City emerged in Chicago, with directors Del Close and Charna Halpern, who influenced an entire generation of comedians whose work continues to this day.

The history of improvisational theatre is made of chance encounters and happy discoveries, much study and hard work, and today, directors, actors, and those interested in improvisational theatre are still seeking to learn how to improve, creating tools that help actor-directors and improvisers to achieve increasingly better performances on stage. From afar, improvisational theatre may seem chaotic and uncontrolled, without a platform or guiding principle. But that's not the case at all. IMPROV increasingly aims to be a platform, with its own rules and laws, that allows for the maximum expression of free and spontaneous creativity. Up close, we realize that the best improvisers are those who know which tools are best at any given moment and possess knowledge of specific techniques to work in groups or individually on efficient and wonderful scenes. As with everything, the magic of improvisation lies in this ability to use techniques and tools so intelligently that the audience doesn't even realize how much work it takes.

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Mario