Impro Narrativa; Valencia, Spain
This past weekend I had the opportunity to play along with incredibly talented improvisers from all over Europe in Valencia’s Impro Narrativa Festival.
It was three days of absolute shenanigans, whimsey, mystery, tomfoolery, and even some serious tones all formatted in various long form improv. There were classic structures alongside creative new ideas of storytelling and I got to be a part of it all. The picture above is my view from their light desk as I was live busking to the stories onstage. The venue was fabulous and it was a familiar challenge to me color mixing on the fly and following performers around the stage as the light board operator/designer.
My two favorite shows were “King’s Whim” as an audience member and “Sound Off” as a technician.
“King’s Whim” featured two players, one straight man, one fool. There were pranks and destruction and panic and speed as the court jester and playwright have 30 minutes to write a show for the “king” based on audience suggestions. It was full of both wit and slapstick and had me cackling from the booth.
“Sound Off” was a 45 minute long form, again, with only two players. These women were physical geniuses – as the whole piece was done without dialogue, only music from a live piano player and sound effects from the two players. As the lighting tech, I was able to play along with them with total freedom, becoming a character, myself. I used the lighting to change the time and create a lighthouse – it was one of my favorite things to create their world and environment.
I had such a blast at this festival and exploring the city of Valencia when I was off the clock. I will definitely be pinning this festival for the future and have made plenty of friends to visit in other cities around Europe and beyond.