Improv 320: Dramatic Improv (8-week course)

IMPROV 320: DRAMATIC IMPROV

An 8-Week Course with Drew Stroud from April 14 through June 2

$200 | 8 Weeks | Culminates in a Public Performance

Improv doesn't have to be funny. It can be devastating, electric, and deeply human. Dramatic Improv is an 8-week intensive that takes improvisers out of their comedic comfort zones and into the rich, vulnerable territory of emotional and authentic storytelling without a script. Over eight weeks, you'll build a foundation of strong characters, genuine emotional connection, and theatrical craft. Then, you'll bring it all together in a 40-minute narrative/dramatic public performance. Whether you're a seasoned improviser curious about dramatic forms or an actor wanting to sharpen your instincts, this class will change how you think about what improv can do.

Here's what you can expect to do in this course:

• Get comfortable with one another and establish a shared improv language and vocabulary
• Build trust and develop ensemble through group mind exercises
• Create unique, specific characters that audiences can root for
• Explore your characters' inner lives, their perspectives, fears, and wants
• Expand your toolkit with acting fundamentals: objectives, tactics, motivation, and more
• Learn to commit fully and heighten by leaning into emotions, characters, and scenarios to deepen every scene
• Discover the components of narrative form
• Participate in a 40-minute narrative/dramatic public performance created entirely by your ensemble

Improv 320 is open to anyone that has had at least two levels of improv training. It consists of eight two-hour classes on Tuesdays (April 14, 21, & 28, May 5, 12, 19, & 26, and June 2) from 6 to 8pm at Big Couch's Bywater location at 1045 Desire St., New Orleans, LA 70117. At the culmination of the course, attendees will put on an evening improv show on Thursday, June 11.

A registration fee of $200 will cover all eight sessions, Big Couch offers scholarships to students who identify as Black/African American, Indigenous, Hispanic/Latinx, Asian American Pacific Islander, LGBTQIA+, and/or disabled, as well as those for whom English is a second language. To inquire, email [email protected].

About the Course Facilitator:

Drew Stroud has been doing theatre ever since he got kicked off his high school baseball team for "not being good." He holds an MFA in Theatre Performance from the University of New Orleans, where his thesis explored the importance of improv in the actor's toolkit. He's been improvising for 14 years — as a performer, coach, director, and producer — and has flirted with every form along the way. At Big Couch, you'll also find him singing out-of-tune with Sorry, We're Singing. If you want to bore yourself (his words), you can read his thesis: "Voices in My Head: An Improviser's Approach to Becky Mode's 'Fully Committed.'" Or you can just take this class and save yourself the time.

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