Shakespeare invented scene painting
… and a bunch of other stuff fundamental to good improv.
Okay, he might not have invented it, but he sure did use it!!!
Improv has been relegated to the dorky corner of the arts world. But improv has more in common with Shakespeare (probably the most uppity kind of theatre) than many literary scholars would have us believe. The lineage from Commedia dell'arte to Shakespeare, through to modern improv comedy is clear in an academic sense, but it’s also true that we can look to Shakespeare for pragmatic help in how we play today.
BASE REALITY
Shakespeare literally states the who, what and where of a scene (particularly during early scenes) in very direct language. The most revered English language poet in all of history wrote things like: ‘Here in this orchard’ As You Like It
The characters say one another’s names, then repeat them over and over again.
Shakespeare LOVED a specific- Helena doesn’t say just say to Hermia ‘We’re bffs’, she says ‘So we grow together, Like to a double cherry, seeming parted, But yet an union in partition’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream
CHARACTERS AND RELATIONSHIPS
The best part of Shakespeare’s plays are the relationships. The plots are weird and complicated or super simple and silly (I think that’s why it’s so easy to mix them up) but it’s how the characters deal with the situations they find themselves in and the relationships that make his plays so moving and memorable:
We know Romeo and Juliet loved each other
The Macbeths were an ambitious power couple
Hamlet was sad
He states relationships very clearly, he’ll often start with phrases like ‘Brother’ or ‘Mother’, then go on to expand and give more information on how the characters are relating to one another- brothers who’ve fallen out. He doesn’t mess about either, he just says it.
Like many of the great characters we create on the improv stage, Shakespearean Characters don’t fundamentally change, they hold onto their povs. Even if it’s to their own detriment (poor Othello). They go around interacting with the world through their pov- giving us amazing examples of if this is true, what else is true? They are playing very strong, clear character game.
Shakespearean characters often say and do things that we are encouraged to do in good improv:
Shakespeare’s characters say how they are feeling out loud, all the time. And then they go on and on and on about it!
Shakespeare’s characters have big, seemingly irrational emotional responses with justifications that are obvious to them (and the audience)
Say what they see in the other character (‘It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night, Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear’ Romeo and Juliet)
Say out loud, very bluntly (no poetry) what they want
Talk through their thought processes
Characters make emotional noises
SHAKESPEARE LOVED A SUPPORT MOVE
Characters call people on from off stage ‘Oh, but who comes here, my sister from another land’
Shakespeare uses scene painting all the time: ‘What light from yonder window breaks’(Translation: There is light coming out of the window.)
STRUCTURE
The endings of Shakespeare’s plays wrap up real quick, once all has been revealed and we know a wedding needs to happen, it just happens and everyone can go home!
They don’t faff about things, as soon as a character decides to do something, they do it!
Many Shakespeare monologues are a lesson in game (even the sad ones). The way they are written is that the character states a premise and then goes on to explore a bunch of ‘if this is true, what else is true-isms’, filtered perfectly through the character pov.
Personally, I think the most fun part of Shakespeare is that he loved breaking rules, just like we learn a form only to break it. When we are good enough to break the rules we’ve elevated improv from basement theatre into the light of ‘high art’.
The thing I love most about improv is that anyone can be and become anyone, we can all play all of the roles and Shakespeare gave us that permission: One man in his time plays many parts.
So next time your coach or teacher is begging you to state who you are, and you’re thinking ‘But it sounds so clunky’, remember: Shakespeare did that ALL THE TIME!! If it’s good enough for Shakespeare, it’s good enough for us!
