London, 26th of May 2026

👋 Greetings, dear readers.

Last week was good workwise and I also had a new tatoo (a ouija planchette) after four years away from the artsy needles. On other news, May is ending with an unusual heatwave in the UK, making London feel like my home country. I’m melting when I’m not chugging water. Despite the heat, I have a newsletter to deliver, so let’s begin.

✨ An update about the state of the newsletter: after more than a year of using this platform, I've updated to a paid tier, meaning I can now accept more subscribers, up to 1,000! 🥳 Spread the word, lovelies! Also, every single past entry in the archive now has the option to comment. That’s right, whether you are a recent subscriber or an all-time champion, you can go back and leave your thoughts retroactively on any specific issue.

Lately, I’ve been having discussions with friends in the arts about the artistry in improv. Mind you, I don’t want to open the debate of whether improv is art or not, but rather focus on the act of recognising (or not) the artistry within it. This is something that was also triggered by the thoughts I shared with you last week on top of my experience watching improv shows lately, during a time when I’m way more immersed in Playback Theatre and scripted theatre.

For me, personally and subjectively, there’s something that makes the difference between watching on stage people playing and people crafting. That thing is what I call the “improv face”.

The improv face is an engaged face, fully aware of what’s going on onstage. It's a spectating face, always with a smile regardless of the characters' situation. That smile is the main indicator of the “improv face” You will probably see this face mostly during short-form improv games, where there’s a clear code of playfulness and entertainment. Nothing against it; people like watching others play, and Twitch thrives on that.

In my opinion, the improv face on stage can be a wall that keeps artistry away. Whenever I see someone wearing the improv face on a long-form, narrative driven show, I cannot take the it seriously, even if it’s comedy. “Comedy is serious—deadly serious,” said Mel Brooks. Again, it’s not about not being funny, but about putting your artistry mindset on and doing this revolutionary thing called acting.

These words might be a bit unfair to those who aren't professional performers, but bear with me. I’m aware that the overwhelming majority of improvisers are hobbyists, doing this for fun and confidence-boosting outside of their 9-to-5s. Some, though, might want to make something truly meaningful out of this hobby—and it’s up to those lucky enough to teach improv to bring that artistry out from their students and into the stages.

Dear improvisers: rip the “improv face” off your head. I encourage you to try the acting approach, too. Shut my mouth with artistry, please.

What´s your experience? Could you also spot “improv faces” on stage?

Stay hydrated. Love to you all. 🫶

🎭 The Theatre bit

I've finally been able to dive into my recent acquisitions of Valencian theatre and read a fairly recent play from one of our most prolific playwrights, Carles Alberola.

Regala'm esta nit ("Give me tonight") surprised me. What started as a regular interaction between two former lovers became a kind of multiversal journey triggered by regret and lost opportunities.

Loneliness is the main antagonist of this play, which eventually dives into a metatheatrical routine. To be honest, I don’t know how I feel about going meta and acknowledging the audience. Going full "oh look, our lives are part of a play and here’s the audience" can feel a bit gimmicky. Luckily, this play doesn’t rely fully on it, and it feels more like a bump in a well-written road.

Reading it, though, doesn’t fully capture the audiovisual experience suggested by the stage directions, which use projections to enhance the characters' emotions. While imagination can be powerful, I would really like to see it live.

Overall, another solid play by Alberola.

📆 What is coming up

• 🇬🇧 5th to 7th of June - “Is the Personal Story Political?” (London, UK). At True Heart Theatre, we are hosting a Level 2 training led by Michele Chung, focusing on the political dimension of long-form stories in Playback Theatre. Info and registration here.

• 🇬🇧 12th of June - Acaprov at Shoreditch Balls (London, UK). Join us once again for a brand-new improvised musical. What kind of inspiration will we find with summer within reach? Tickets here.

• 🇧🇬 20th-21st of June - Level 2 Playback Theatre Training (Varna, Bulgaria). Excited for going to Bulgaria for the first time to deliver my “Honouring Stories with your Voice” intensive. Looking forward to meeting the Playback Theatre community in Varna. Info here.

• 🇬🇧 10th of July - Acaprov at Shoreditch Balls (London, UK). Stranded in the city with no holidays? So are we! Come and have musical fun with us. Get your tickets.

• 🇲🇹 18th of September - Intro to Playback Theatre (Valletta, Malta). I´m honoured to be part of the facilitator roster attending the Improvizza! festival in Malta. I´m excited to introduce Playback Theatre to improvisers there. Tickets here.

📚 🎮 🎥 📺 The geeky dessert

Seven years and five seasons after it first aired, the TV show based on Garth Ennis's comic series The Boys has ended—sort of, if you ignore the future spin-offs already announced.

They say art is a reflection of the times in which it is conceived. What started as a direct adaptation of the comic book plot evolved into an eerie depiction of the current state of society—especially in the United States—since the show tries very hard to be satirical, only to be overtaken by reality.

Of course, the comic book plot is still there, including all the unhinged savagery and gore. My enjoyment of the series—and I enjoyed it a fair amount, I must add—was only tainted by the knowledge of the war crimes committed in Lebanon by one of the main actors in the series while serving in certain occupation forces.

The Boys is a wild ride and, to be honest, I’m glad it ended when it started showing signs of exhaustion instead of prolonging it further. Now let’s hope its reflection doesn’t extend any further into the real world.