Online Three Genres Improv Course

With 2 weeks spent on each genre, plus an online showcase to share with your friends, you’ll pick up some core tips on improvising with any Genre, as well as some customised and totally original exercises that’ll help you examine this terms' genres.

In this 6 week course co-taught by Jonah Fazel & Amy Cooke-Hodgson, you will play within the symbolic Southern gothic stylings of Tennessee Williams, deconstruct all the foreshadowing and murderous horror of the Cabin in the Woods and bust open the repressed corsets of the 1800s whilst perambulating through the origins of Romantic Comedy.

Whilst this course is ideal for experienced players, as it presumes some experience with long-form scenes but Intermediate improvisers are also welcome and won’t feel out of their depth within the adaptive class environment.

Whether you prefer to play with genre in quick and fun short-form scenes or more detailed long-form and narrative pieces, you’ll have all the tools at your disposal to start your very own show and play with a more assured touch.

An ideal extension for those who've taken the previous 3 genres course of narrative improv courses.

Designed to give you lots of opportunities to develop and hone your skills, with plenty of reps in each genre universe, you’ll refine your storytelling abilities in an environment that is both supportive and challenging.

Syllabus includes:

Narrative forms: Letter writing, going beyond ‘heroes journey’ and exploring various styles of narration and narrative steering.

Scene transition tools: Explore genre-specific ways of pushing the story forward.

Form specific lexicon and period-appropriate dialogue: Develop the ways in which you speak (cadence, accent and vocabulary) in order to not only create useful characters but provide a framework for your choices.

World Building & scene painting: Create rich complex worlds so that scenes feel effortless.

Point of View and character: Make clear characters, and provide them with style-specific wants, choices and obstacles.

Useful Tropes and Stereotypes: Establish ways to succinctly communicate your ‘in world’ choices using your characteristics.

Cinematography and theatrical staging: Exploring the opportunities that a camera and a zoom window can present us to inspire new ways of working.

Min. participants 6, max. participants 12.

If we have to cancel the event due to low numbers, we will do this with 24hours notice (and you will receive a warning 48 hours before the course if this looks likely).

Jonah Fazel is a veteran Character Actor, Theatre-maker, Television presenter and one of the UK’s most prominent improvisers, with over 15 years of performing and coaching experience. He trained at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and in multiple improvisational styles. He is the lecturer of improvisation at The University of Creative Arts, The Bridge Theatre Training Company and teaches at many UK drama schools and improv companies.

As a facilitator, he specialises in character, narrative, and acting skills. He can be seen on stage in the UK in Bumper Blyton and on Youtube in Improtoons- an animated improv cartoon series.

Amy Cooke Hodgson is a qualified teacher and well-renowned improviser, with two decades of coaching and facilitation experience, she enjoys working with her students to develop confident and connected performance.

Co-founder of the hit show Austentatious, one of the most successful and award-winning improv shows in the world, with regular shows on Londons West End, multiple sold-out runs at The Edinburgh Fringe festival and its own BBC Radio 4 series, she specialises in narrative and character-driven scene work.

When not improvising Amy works as a Television and Musical Theatre actor with credits including BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Netflix.

This experienced course runs every Thursday evening from 25th February to 1st April, 7.30 pm-9.30 pm GMT

Experienced (18 months+) A class for skilful players, especially those who have finished improv training programmes at their school and are looking to widen their horizons. These classes will make the assumption that you are comfortable performing longform improvisation and will push you.

Whatever the level of ability required, all of our classes are safe, supportive environments led by our experienced teachers. Please email us if you are unsure whether a class is suitable for you. If you sign up for a class inappropriate to your level the Nursery/Maydays reserved the right to remove you from the class without refund.