XIV - Blame It on the Edit
Surviving summer heat, doing shows, attending concerts, understanding edits in improv and channeling nostalgia through theatre and an old sitcom.
Greetings, dear readers, I hope you’re surviving the summer.
Between the heatwave and jet lag last week, my sleep schedule was (and still is a bit) completely off. On the bright side, I had a nice storytelling session in Spanish at school to finish the term, and I already have my eye on the September bookings.
On the weekend, I had fun performing with Acaprov and Shuffle. Also, we went to see Billie Eilish in concert at The O2 Arena and it was a great experience. I think I’ve never been in a mainstream concert with lots of teenagers in the audience before, the level of screaming was unbeliavable. I had a great time. Billie is a great performer and the audiovisual spectacle of the set design was phenomenal. The girl has (and makes) a lot of money y’all!
🧠 The Improv bit
One of the things that I took away from my recent attendance to Improv Utopia is the importance of a good edit on a scene. That is something that we work intensively with Jamie Moyer.
Part of “getting the back” of our fellow scene partners is to not let them stranded on a scene that is going on for too long, even from the sides or the backlines we need to be focused on what’s happening in the scene so we can cut in the adequate moment. The cue could be a huge laugh from the audience or a brilliant line that acts as perfect wrap for a situation. A good edit makes your scene partners look good.
It's easy to miss the right moment to edit, and I speak from experience. I've been there, often, and sometimes I still am. One of theses things is politeness. We want to be polite, to respect our partners stage time even when a joke expires. There is nothing more polite than making them look like geniuses (genii?) by shutting their mouths at their peak by sweeping the stage. On the opposite, you can also help them by editing right on the moment you feel them struggle with a scene.
The other thing that anchors us to the sides is overthinking. World building is great, but if we are working in our own mental project instead of focusing in what’s already there that’s both a recipe for disaster and lack of camaraderie.
A good game to exercise this, is ”Freeze, tag”. Be present, be playful, and find the right moment!
🪑 The Playback Theatre bit
The things mentioned on the improv bit applies, obviously, to Playback Theatre, specially in the longer forms. The things to identify are different though.
In longer forms, like episodes or story, we make offers that can take many different shapes. A metaphore, a poem, a song, a dance. Once it's done, it’s time to edit and bring a new offer.
In Playback Theatre though, we don’t do sweep edits and we don’t tap out a performer. That makes me think… would it work to introducing this improv editing devices?
I definitely will elaborate (and experiment) on ways to edit that can work on Playback Theatre.
🎭 The Theatre bit (with a bit of Shout-out)
I missed my weekly theatre play read last week, but I caught up by reading L’Abraçada dels Cucs (The Worms’ hug) by the Valencian playwright and actress Paula Llorens.
Maybe I’m a little bit biased this week, because I have high regards for Paula. We used to be together in a couple of productions 15 years ago. She is phenomenal. I’m glad to see her now as a prolyphic author, not only thriving with her theatre but also getting accolades.
The play tackles the delicate subject of suicide through the relationship between of an adult gay man and a young girl on a mental health facility. Both with different motivations and background, failed in seeking the same outcome. Paula’s mix of casual and poetic language works wonders along the nine scenes of the play, where we experience the progress of their relationship and, perhaps, the chrysalis of hope.
📆 What is coming up
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
During my flight back from the USA, instead of watching crappy movies, I started re-watching the American version of The Office. I've been bingeing it for the last week and just can't stop. I’m currently in the middle of season 3! I don’t like it when Americans redo the work of British series, but, in this case, they surpassed the source material and went beyond.
It aired initially in 2005, so it’s being a rabbit hole of nostalgia for me. Without streaming platforms, the only way to watch it back then was to download it from the internet 🏴☠️ and watch it on my computer screen from the bed of my shared flat.
Also, it’s funny to see faces that now are big names thanks to the success of this series. Even two decades later, it remains as good as new and a true staple (pun intended) in the history of television comedy, heavily influencing other series that came later.
✨ That’s all folks ✨
Thanks for reading Playing Back an Improvised Life, a newsletter by Ferran Luengo.
If you like it, spread the voice and share with someone who you think might enjoy it.
If you want to keep in touch, feel free to follow me on instagram (@luenkun).
Want to work with me or start a conversation? email me 😀
Want to support me? You can do it through my Ko-fi page
Ferran Luengo