XII - Playing with Languages
Jetting off to Colorado for Improv Utopia, running language learning improv workshops, and revisiting Pinter plays!
By the time this newsletter hits your inbox, I'll be at Heathrow Airport, waiting to board a plane bound for Denver, Colorado. I've never been to that state, so I'm really looking forward to it! I hope everything goes smoothly.
My reason to travel is to attend an advanced improv track on camp Improv Utopia. This will mark the first travel of a few planned for July and August. I’ll be carrying my laptop, so I don’t plan to give a rest to the newsletter. Maybe they got lighter for the moment? We’ll see.
As usual, thank you for being there.
🧠 The Applied Improv bit
Using improv as a language learning tool is incredibly valuable. Life is unscripted, and improv provides a priceless platform to practice spontaneous communication. It's the next best thing to actually moving to a country where the language you are learning is spoken.
A couple of years ago I developed an improv workshop oriented towards groups that are learning a new language. I tailored it as an extra activity of Improv Utopia Spain, where the improvisers could practice Spanish in a familiar setting. Jokingly, I called it “El Workshoppo”, but it became a thing. It worked very well and I was able to repeat the experience in future editions and also at Improv Utopia West, in California, due the high numbers of Spanish speakers there.
I had something going so, I starting doing the same workshop in London, for people who were studying Catalan. Invited by the department of Catalan Studies of Queen’s Mary University, I was able to deliver this workshop to two different groups. Always with good results. I was nervous beforehand, though.
One thing is to facilitate to improvisers, and other quite different to people without such experience. It tends to work well but, as a facilitator, one has to put extra care to make sure they feel safe and comfortable actively participating. You cannot start a session just throwing them to roleplaying. It requires a series of warmup exercises where they can unravel, step by step, the vocabulary and the kind of interaction with others they are not used to.
Last week I had another tweak on the challenge, delivering the workshop to a group ranging from 9 to 13 years, for the London Catalan School. Definitely, rough around the edges, but overall satisfied, and makes me thing to try to push this workshop to another level. I’m quite proud of the work I put into it and the positive outcomes.
🪑 The Playback Theatre tip
Prompted by the topic, I only have a tip for playbackers this week.
Whenever reenacting a story, don’t hesitate to use another language. If you happen to know the langage of the teller, use it. Even if it’s not the language of the audience. The teller is always the priority. Also, the audience already knows the story so doesn’t matter in which language you speak, it even doesn’t matter if you don’t speak at all!
🎭 The Theatre bit
I have a few Harold Pinter published plays on my shelf that I got almost twenty years ago a barely touch them since. They are in Latin American Spanish and I find some expressions odd, so I don’t know how good the translations are.
Last week I decided to read again The Caretaker, it’s been so long that it felt like I was reading it for the first time. Then I remembered… “oh, yes, Harold Pinter and his extremely accurate stage directions.” From the point of view of a reader, those are a blessing. It’s a play from 1960, so I wonder if those directions have been challenged, not that they need it.
Anyway, I enjoyed getting in contact with the work of Pinter again, those dialogues with their nuances and pauses are delightful. It was a reminder for myself to try and replace the plays on my shelf, with editions on the original English language.
🗣️ Shout-out
I think this week cannot let the opportunity to highlight, of course, Improv Utopia. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the very first camp Improv Utopia, created by Nick Armstrong. It initially ran in California, but later made its way to the East Coast of the USA, Ireland, the Yosemite National Park, Spain, and Colorado, being the later the brand new one.
I attended my first Improv Utopia in Ireland 2018 and it changed the way I perceived improv. It also paved my way to international improv, introducing me to people that now are dearest friends.
If you ever have the chance to attend, you will not regret it.
📆 What is coming up
ACAPROV: July’s improvised a capela musical is near. You can get your ticket now.
International Playback Theatre Camp: Attend a lovely retreat in Georgia, this August, where I will one of the guest teachers. You still can register.
2nd Ukranian Playback Theatre Festival: This festival looks great and I will also be teaching there. It will take place in Poznan, Poland. All the information is here.
📚 🎮 🎥 📺 The geeky dessert
Since I moved to London I’m trying to catch up in popular culture through their TV shows, specially sitcoms.
The last couple of years I watched the 9 seasons of Peep Show, starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb navigating their life in London as flat mates. So, when I saw the series Back, popping on Netflix, I had to watch it.
Although the dynamics between Mitchell and Webb makes you think about Peep Show, every now and then, it’s quite different. I liked the rural setting and the ocassional darkness in its tone.
I’d gladly accept more British recommendations. Do you have any?
✨ That’s all folks ✨
Thanks for reading Playing Back an Improvised Life, a newsletter by Ferran Luengo.
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Ferran Luengo