XVIII - The Country, not the State
Immersed in Georgian wilderness, I'm bonding over improv at playback camp.
Greetings, dear readers. I’m writing you fully immersed in the Georgian landscape, among mountains, cows, bears, and rivers. Schedule here is tight and the connection is flimsy. So you'll have to settle for a shorter newsletter without proof reading and possibly with orthographical mistakes. Bear (like the ones around here) with me!
I’m on the third day of camp and, I’m glad to be here. I’ll save speaking about the experience until it’s over, six days from now. So far I found new connections, loads of hugs, courageous conversations, and laughter. I’ve just facilitated my first group and I’m happy with the kind words of feedback I’m getting. Looking forward to facilitating again tomorrow.
🧠 The Improv and Playback Theatre (PT) mix
I’m meeting many people and so far I’m making deep connection with some of them. One is Bjorn. Bjorn is an improviser from Tacoma, Washington, that never has done Playback Theatre before. After watching a couple of performances he decided to come to camp. Imagine travelling from so far just because you were mesmerised with a performance.
Of course, being improvisers, we spoke a lot about improv and we found out that we had common perceptions about it. We talked about slow burn scenes, emotional connection, and, a lot, of the TJ & Dave style. So much that we decided to do a set on the open mic night, filled with many wonderful acts. We started the set just looking at each other until the first line appeared. Then it was just flowing and reacting effortlessly. We made the most of the barely 10 minutes we had.
I guess there’s something great of improvising from the sensitive mindset that comes from people open to more sensitive art forms like Playback Theatre. That’s me reiterating that improvisers could benefit a lot from the practice of playback.
📆 What is coming up
3rd to 7th of September - Robin Hood International Improv Festival (Nottingham, UK). I’m looking foward to go back to Robin Hood’s city to enjoy five days of improv. I’ll enjoying some workshops, the shows and I’ll be in a couple of acts. Information and tickets here.
📚 🎮 🎥 📺 The geeky dessert
On my flight to Istanbul, I decided to break my rule of watching crappy movies on a flight and I watched I, Tonya.
I’ve noticed it, back in 2017, when it released and I was aware of all the accolades it got, but I didn’t find the opportunity to watch it. I’m glad I did it. The documentary style adds a good pace and Margot Robbie absolutely smashed it.
✨ 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