The Un-Scripted Theater Company
Encyclopedia
The Un-Scripted Theater Company is an improv theater company based out of San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Unlike most improv troupes, The Un-Scripted Theater Company does not perform just one kind of improv format, but rather 4 to 7 runs of uniquely different improv formats each year. Each season is set up like a "normal" theater season with 4 to 8 week runs of shows, each with its own Director
Theatre direction
A theatre director or stage director is a practitioner in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production by unifying various endeavours and aspects of production...
, format, and vision.
History
The Un-Scripted Theater Company was founded in 2002 when the Thursday night performance group, The Belfry, was cut from the line up at San Francisco's BATS ImprovBATS Improv
BATS Improv is a non-profit improvisational theatre company in San Francisco. Founded in 1986, their unique style of acting-based improvisational theatre is well-known in improv circles around the world...
. Determined to continue their performance work, 8 of the original 20 improvisors of The Belfry left and started The Un-Scripted Theater Company in January 2003. Since then, the Un-Scripted Theater Company has performed hundreds of shows all over the Bay Area, throughout California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Organizational Structure
The Un-Scripted Theater Company has a permanent Ensemble who also function as the company's professional staff, and each show brings in two or more Guest performers to make up the cast that performs in any given show. Ensemble members choose the shows they wish to perform in throughout the year. Each run of shows has performance slots reserved for improvisors who aren't part of the Un-Scripted Theater Company. These slots are filled with Guest improvisors chosen by the DirectorTheatre direction
A theatre director or stage director is a practitioner in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production by unifying various endeavours and aspects of production...
of the show at improv auditions held before the start of the show's rehearsal period. The rehearsal period and performance schedule can be more rigorous than that of a regular improv troupe. The Un-Scripted Guest Program allows improvisors to come work with the Un-Scripted Theater Company for a few months and then go back to their regular lives without committing to the theater company full time.
Each show has a larger cast
Cast member
A cast member is:* An actor who performs in a theatrical production, motion picture, or television program. The actors who perform in the show are collectively referred to as the cast....
size than the number of play slots in any given night's performance, so the cast changes each night depending on who is scheduled.
Improv Style
The Un-Scripted Theater Company performs both Shortform and Longform improv shows. San Francisco has a distinctly different style of improv than much of the rest of the country. Unlike Chicago where one venue will host three 30-45 minute shows in one evening, most San Francisco improv shows are 2 hours long, complete with their own intermission. And while Chicago and New York are full of improv companies who perform formats based on the HaroldHarold (improvisation)
Harold is a form of longform improv. Developed by Del Close and brought to fruition through Close's collaboration with Charna Halpern, the Harold has become the signature form of Chicago's I.O. and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York and Los Angeles...
(with multiple storylines going on at the same time), San Francisco is full of improv shows with single-story formats. Often referred to as play-length improv shows, these improv shows are rooted in the idea that if someone can perform
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
something scripted (like a play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
, movie, or musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
) then it can also be improvised just as well.
2011
A Tale of Two Genres: An Improvised Dickens MusicalFear
Act 1: Scene 2
Secret Identity Crisis
2010
Un-Scripted: un-scriptedIn A World
A Tale of Two Genres: An Improvised Dickens Musical
2008
The Great Puppet Bollywood ExtravaganzaUn-Scripted: un-scripted
San Francisco Improv Festival
Theater: The Musical
Three
2007
The Great Puppet MusicalYou Bet Your Improvisor
The Love Show
Shakespeare: Un-Scripted
Let it Snow!
2006
SupertrainThe Impossible Film Project
Theatresports RAW
Two Man Longform at the The Bay Area Comedy Festival
You Bet Your Improvisor
The Short & the Long of It (Abridged) at the Chicago Improv Festival Nine
Love at First Sight
2005
Let it Snow!The Impossible Film Project
The Short & the Long of It!
Love at First Sight
You Bet Your Improvisor
2004
Let It Snow!Fear
The Short & the Long of It!
Improvised Bawdy Shakespeare
Aussie Rules Theatersports
"Three"
Bawdy Shakespeare at BATS Improv
Improv Survivor
2003
The Cafe Sappore seriesFEAR. reborn
The Amazing Improvised Musical!
Improvised Bawdy Shakespeare
Impro Bingo
The Short & the Long Of It!
Spring Sing and Improv Carnival Gala
Founding Members
- Alan Goy
- Brian McBride
- Christian Utzman
- Cort Worthington
- Glenn Etter
- Jennifer Kah
- Susan Snyder
- Tara McDonough
Press
- "Spicy & Cheap: New, improv'd Shakespeare" by Lisa Drostova and Kelly Vance - East Bay Express, July 21, 2004
- "Act Scared: Horror on the spot" by Anneli Rufus, Stefanie Kalem, and Annika Dukes - East Bay Express, October 27, 2004
- "The 'Snow' must go on" by Tiffany Maleshefski - San Francisco Examiner, December 7, 2004 (review of Let It Snow!)
- "Playing the Short and the Long of It, Un-Scripted" by Betsy M. Hunton - Berkeley Daily Planet, June 10, 2005 (review of The Short and the Long of It)
- "Stage Fog: The Making It Up As We Go Along Edition" - SFist.com, February 25, 2005 (review of You Bet Your Improvisor)
- "The Theater: Comedy Cohabitation Off Union Square" by Michael Katz - Berkeley Daily Planet, October 27, 2006 (review of Supertrain)
- "The audience's input keeps 'Puppet' lively" by Pat Craig - Contra Costa Times, May 7, 2007 (review of The Great Puppet Musical)
- "The humans are okay, but the puppets are the real stars" By Molly Rhodes - SF Weekly, May 23, 2007 (review of The Great Puppet Musical)
- "Improv making up for lost time" by Sam Hurwitt - San Francisco Chronicle, July 15, 2007
- "Top Picks" (Shakespeare: Un-Scripted) - SFWeekly.com, August 29, 2007
- "Your Show Will Be Different" By Paul Sinasohn - San Francisco Bay Times, August 30, 2007 (Review of Shakespeare: Un-Scripted)
- "What the hell did I get myself into?" (audio review of Let it Snow) - The Cool as Hell Theater Show, November 28th, 2007
- "Best of the Bay: Nightlife and Entertainment" - SF Bay Guardian, 2008
- "'Let It Snow!' is musical that's made to order" By Sam Hurwitt - Marin Independent Journal, December 2, 2009