Impro-night

Two teams of six actors each, with each team advised by a coach, face off in a friendly contest that consists of improvising theatrical dialogue and action inspired by themes drawn from a drum. The form of the show, its staging, its setting, its costumes and atmosphere are drawn from a sport well-known in North America: Ice-hockey. Just as in that game, the improvisation is divided into 3 periods of 30 minutes, with pauses between during which guest personalities analyze and comment on the game.Traditionally improvisation has been considered as a learning technique for young actors and actresses. People tended to forget that it has a very lively form of theatre in its own right. To bring it to life again, Robert Gravel and Yvon Leduc had the original notion of transposing the atmosphere and certain rules of hockey in such a way as to offer theatre buffs the pleasure of an evening of improvisation. This theatrical and social phenomenon has now acquired international importance: the French, the Belgians and the Swiss have decided to follow in Quebec’s footsteps, and have established their own national improvisation leagues.