The Greenhill Improv Troupe is preparing for their first show of the year on Wednesday, Oct. 29. The show’s theme will be Halloween and aims to provide audience members with spooky fun, according to junior Hank Maher, a troupe member.
For years, each Greenhill improv show has been centered on a holiday or season. The Halloween-themed show will include relevant games and give the opportunity for the improvisers to dress in costumes.
Senior Syrus Gupta has been a part of the troupe for four years. This year, Gupta is one of the co-leaders and is in charge of planning many of the games for the upcoming show.
“It is almost like theater but comedy,” Gupta said. “It’s more interactive with the audience in the sense that the audience is half of the show.
In most types of theater, audience members generally sit in their seats and quietly watch. However, improv differs from this tradition.
“It is very interactive with the audience,” junior Anjali Blewett said.
Typically, the audience suggests characters or plots for the improvisers to spontaneously interact with.
“People forget that the audience is as much a part of improv as the performers are,” Gupta said.
Maher thinks students would enjoy themselves as audience members because watching an improv show can be a good opportunity to laugh.
“It would be nice if the students came, they would have fun,” Maher said.
In preparation for the upcoming show, improv meets twice a week before school, allowing students to balance their academic schedules while still committing to the troupe.
Maher says that when he first joined, he did not have natural talent like others. Even though Maher lacked improv skills at the beginning, he kept practicing and eventually got better.
“The improv games don’t stop just because you mess up,” Maher said.
Many members were inspired to audition as freshman after watching Upper School improv groups perform in Middle School.
“I think seeing the upperclassmen just being really funny and having fun with each other was so interesting to me,” Blewett said.
According to Gupta, a big part of the improv experience is being a part of a family-like dynamic and connecting with others.
“Everybody really loves each other and really embraces each other,” Gupta said. “A major part of the improv troupe experience is being with that family.” Students partake in improv for a wide range of reasons, including to make people laugh, to work on acting skills or to just step outside of their comfort zone.
“It teaches you to put yourself out there, be vulnerable and just take a big risk and trust yourself,” Gupta said.
Improv has also taught many of them valuable lessons that they will continue to practice every day.
“I feel like it teaches a lot of flexibility on how to get along with people in weird situations that you don’t have enough time to think about [in real life],” Blewett said.
