I - Landing on your doormat
I'm launching a newsletter to share my journey in theatre, improv, and more with you weekly!
✨ I’m doing a new thing ✨
Inspired by many other improvisers like Chris Mead, Katy Schutte, Lloydie James Lloyd or Quinton O’Really I decided to create a newsletter myself. If you are reading this, you are one of the few people that subscribed to it before it’s launch. My gratitude goes to you.
Why a newsletter instead of keeping up with the blog? The answer might be immediacy... so I guess I’m like the American paperboys from the last century, throwing the newspaper right onto your doormat. It’s practical. 🤷♂️ Of course, even if you get it, it’s not guaranteed that you will read it. Don’t worry, I can cope with that!
Every week you will get in your compartmentalized and subjective information about a few things, mostly theatre in different variants and applications.
🧠 On improv
Despite of being member of the Hoopla formed improv troupe Shuffle, my calendar kept me away from rehearsals for months. I’m glad to be rejoining shortly on those sessions and hopefully accompany them on stage more often.
So far, this 2025 I’ve been neglecting diversifying with several styles of improv, specially the type of grounded improv that I preach and teach. Don’t get me wrong, I love being part of Acaprov. I want to keep working on different improv muscles, something difficult being so busy with Playback Theatre. Speaking of PT…
🪑 On Playback Theatre
While I’m writing this, the Asia Pacific Playback Theatre conference is ending in Manila, Philipines, and I’m having a big case of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). I attended the previous one, celebrated in 2017 in Japan, and it was a turning point for me in my career as a playbacker. My trip to China last year, to work with the Shanghai and Guangzhou communities, helped to ciment my affinity with East Asian playbackers. Hopefully some of them will make it to the European counterpart later this year.
On other note, I’m still reflecting on the core training True Heart Theatre delivered and ended couple of weeks ago after four intensive saturdays. Six people were introduced by us to playback theatre and commited themselves to learn, practice and showcase it. I took inner notes that will help smooth the corners of future trainings. I’m so happy about the fact that, in the last couple of years, more and more people are being introduced to Playback Theatre in London.
🎭 On Theatre
Everytime I travel back to Valencia, I go the bookstore to check Valencian plays published and bring some back to London. This time I overdid it and brought back home seven published plays 🙈 six written in Catalan and one in Spanish. In this section, I will be leavin my thoughts.
From this batch, I’ve already read “Apis Mellifera” by Miquel Angel García i López and many things caught my attention from this play. First, the inclusion of several scenes that were just stage directions depicting very interesting and suggestive (and sometimes ambitious) scene work. I found it quite inspiring. The second thing that drove me into this play was the subtle sci-fi undertone provided by the choice of the theme: cloning. The play focus stays mostly on a woman who lost her kids and want them back by cloning them. The scenes tackle all the ethics around it… emotional, religious, and even corporate. Because, of course, a company might keep the patent of every DNA strand used, basically owning every human created by this method. I enjoyed it, although I found the ending a bit confusing, but I guess delegating the interpretation to the audience is on point with this play.
🗣️ Shout-out!
I want you to keep an eye on The VLC Playground, an English speaking improv school in València born from the seed of València Improv Playground (VIP), which I co-founded with Javier González on the year 2019.
The core team running the school and doing the VIP shows is absolutely brilliant. Rocio Barquilla, Adriá Lerma, and Catalina Serrano are the three heads of the adorable and playful Cerberus in which the english-speaking improv scene in València has turned into. The other day I went to check an original format they are working on and I had a great time watching them perform. They are rocking international improv festivals as well! You might want them in yours.
⚠️ Applied Theatre job opportunity!!
To my fellow applied theatre facilitators in London. If you are into theatre in education, the company I also work with, Freshwater Theatre, is seeking facilitators to join the team. Check their website for more information.
I’ve been working for them for two years and a half now and they are wonderful to work with.
📆 What is cooking?
May bank holiday weekend is coming soon and I’ve never had a bigger desire to split myself in two.
From the second to the fifth of May, London Playback Theatre will be facilitating an intensive Playback Theatre core training at Clean Break in Candem. The course looks great and, of course, I’ll be on the roster of facilitators. Click here for more info.
On the other hand, Acaprov will be performing those exact same dates on the Brighton Fringe. Do you understand my duality crisis now? They will offer six shows spread on those four days, with two special shows for kids on the 3rd and the 5th! Due being busy teaching playback, I’ll only be joining the cast on the 3rd but, if you can, you should attend all of them! 😛 Looking forward to it! You can get tickets here.
📚 🎮 🎥 📺 The geeky dessert
I’m a very big fan of The Last of Us. It’s one of my favourite videogame franchises ever. Videogames are a misunderstood media capable of holding the most compelling stories. Don’t miss out on great storiytelling. Luckily for you, if you are not into gaming, the HBO adaptation from two years ago, starred by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay, was equally good and the second season just premiered.
I’m replaying the second entry, not only because of the show, my recent visit to Seattle allowed me to explore first hand some of the locations depicted in this game and I know this time it will hit differently.
You can enjoy The Last of Us Part I and II on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 or PC.
✨ That’s all folks ✨
Thanks for reading Playing Back an Improvised Life, a newsletter by Ferran Luengo.
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