The Un-Scripted Theater Company Improv Classes
The Un-Scripted Theater Company offers a variety of improv classes. Whether you are an improvisor seeking to expand and deepen your skills or just a person who wants a taste of the wonderful world of improv -- we have a class in the works for you! Stay tuned for our imminent 2009 class schedule!

Current CLASSES
To sign up for a class, email the instructor and they'll get back to you ASAP.

Improvising the Un-Scripted Way -- 5 weeks -- January, February, March 2009
These 3-hour classes will take you through improvising in the style of the Un-Scripted Theater Company using the skills that we train during our rehearsal process for our shows. Not only will you work on the same group work the Un-Scripted Theater Company does when we train ourselves, but the class will also focus on your own individual skills as an improvisor and how to take your own skills to the next level.

Taught by: Christian Utzman
Dates: Wednesdays January 28, February 4, 11, 25, March 4
Place: San Francisco location TBA
Time: 7 pm - 10 pm
Cost: $40 drop in on the day of class ($30 a class for taking classes as a whole series. Financial aid also available).
To register or for more information, email: Christian -at- un-scripted -dot- com

Intro to Improv -- April 2008
Have you always wanted to learn improv? Would you like to get better at public speaking? Improve your self esteem? Become a better listener? Handle meetings and high pressure office situations more successfully? Improv training can help you with all those things and more!

In this 4 week class, long-time Un-Scripted member Alan Goy will introduce you to the wonders of improv in a low stress, low pressure environment. Even if you never want to set foot in front of an audience, improv can be rewarding and fun!

Taught by: Alan Goy
Dates: Mondays April 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th
Place: SF Playhouse Stage 2, 533 Sutter St. (between Mason and Powell)
Time: 7 pm - 10 pm
Cost: $125
To register, email Alan -at- un-scripted.com.

Improvising the Un-Scripted Way -- April 2008
These 3-hour classes will take you through improvising in the style of the Un-Scripted Theater Company using the skills that we train during our rehearsal process for our shows. Not only will you work on the same group work the Un-Scripted Theater Company does when we train ourselves, but the class will also focus on your own individual skills as an improvisor and how to take your own skills to the next level.

Taught by: Christian Utzman
Dates: Thursdays April 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th
Place: San Francisco location TBA
Time: 7 pm - 10 pm
Cost: $40 drop in on the day of class ($30 a class for taking classes as a whole series. Financial aid also available).
To register or for more information, email Christian -at- un-scripted.com.

Improvising Shakespeare the Un-Scripted Way -- Monday, June 11, 2007
This 3-hour class will take you through improvising in the style of Shakespeare: from quickly and easily building your Shakespearean vocabulary, to how to lay the foundation for strong Shakespeare scenes. A great warmup for the Un-Scripted auditions the following week.
Taught by: Christian Utzman
Date: Monday, June 11, 2007
Place: SF Playhouse Stage 2, 533 Sutter St. (between Mason and Powell)
Time: 7 - 10pm
Cost: $5 on day of class. To register, email Christian -at- un-scripted.com.

Improv with Puppets! -- Wednesday, February 28, 2007
In celebration of Un-Scripted's The Great Puppet Musical, we're offering a class on improvising with puppets. We'll go over the basics of puppet manipulation (eye contact, breath, emotion, etc) and then explore different ways to use puppets in improv. We'll be working with mostly hand-and-rod puppets, a la Jim Henson, but we'll also explore other kinds of puppetry, including hand puppets and object manipulation. A fun class to take, whether you're looking to get your feet wet before auditioning for The Great Puppet Musical, or whether you're just looking to expand your improv toolbelt and start thinking in puppets. It's a wide, wide world to explore . . .
Taught by: Mandy Khoshnevisan
 
Date: Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Place: SF Playhouse Stage 2, 533 Sutter St. (between Mason and Powell)
Time: 7 - 10pm
Cost: $30 in advance, through Vendini; $40 on the day of the class. Email the instructor for more information, or to register. NEW: Class participants will get to take home a nifty puppetry tool . . .

Learn to Improvise Like Un-Scripted
Un-Scripted presents: a series of classes on how to improvise like Un-Scripted! As with most Bay Area improv companies, Un-Scripted has its own style focus. We're interested in rich, theatrical improv, with a colorful story and clear main characters. Students may attend any or all of the classes. All classes are at the SF Playhouse, Stage 2. Classes 1, 2, 4, and 5 are $40 each or $120 for all four of them togeather. Each class starts at noon and runs for 3 hours (except class 3). Please e mail an instructor to sign up for a class or for more information.

Class 1: Sunday, October 8 -- Genres! Part 1
Go beyond the cliches! We'll explore the characters, environments, and acting style of a variety of genres, so we can practice living in a world, instead of just visiting. Genres Part 1 is likely to include literary and historical genres, such as Shakespeare.
Taught by: Mandy Khoshnevisan

Class 2: Sunday, October 15 -- Genres! Part 2
Go beyond the cliches! We'll explore the characters, environments, and acting style of a variety of genres, so we can practice living in a world, instead of just visiting. Genres Part 2 is likely to include the wide realm of science fiction and adventure.
Taught by: Dave Dyson

Class 3: Saturday, October 21 -- Improvising Arthur Miller!
Get up close and personal with the dark side of the American Dream. Afterwards you'll have the opportunity to see one of Arthur Miller's later plays, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, performed at the SF Playhouse. Your ticket to the show is included in the price of the class!
Taught by: Tara McDonough

Class 4: Sunday, October 22 -- Protagonist!
Who's the story about? In this class, we'll do scenes in all kinds of genres, with a focus on how to find the protagonist, and then figure out who's with them--and who's against. We'll work on how all that stuff called "acting" works on the improv stage.
Taught by: Christian Utzman

Class 5: Sunday, October 29 -- Style-Matching!
Style-Matching is one of the most valuable skills we use at the Un-Scripted Theater Company. What kind of scene am I in? What kind of show am I in? What kind of improvisors am I on stage with? What kind of improvisor am I? You'll learn to follow the clues and figure it out. Hone your style-matching skills, and watch as genres magically appear!
Taught by: Christian Utzman

The Playwrights: Improvising Arthur Miller

Want to bring some nuance to your improv? Want to learn more about one of the greatest American Playwrights? Get up close and personal with the dark side of the American Dream with this Un-Scripted specialty class.

The first half of the class will be discussion -- we'll read a few scenes from Miller's best-known plays and talk about conventions, themes, and other things that typify Miller's work. You will receive a handout to take home with you. In the second half, we'll practice what we've learned in short scenes and set-ups. Following the class, you'll have the opportunity to see one of Arthur Miller's later plays, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, performed at the SF Playhouse.

Date: Saturday, October 21, 2006
Time: noon - 5 pm
(class from noon to 2:30; see the play from 3 to 5)
Instructor: Tara McDonough
Location: SF Playhouse Stage 2
533 Sutter St (at Powell), 2nd Floor
1 block N of San Francisco's Union Square
Cost: $35 in advance; $45 day of class (includes 2.5 hour class + a ticket to see THE RIDE DOWN MOUNT MORGAN (by Arthur Miller) the night of the class)
Prerequisites: Any intermediate-level improv class
Read "Death of a Salesman" or "All My Sons" before class begins

Dave Dyson Dave Dyson is a founding member and performer with The Un-Scripted Theater Company and The Fibbs. He also performs and teaches with East Bay Improv and can often be seen doing scripted work as well as improv. Contact Dave

Alan Goy Alan Goy is an improvisor, actor, director, and internationally produced, award-winning playwright. He has perfromed with BATS Improv from June of 2000 to January 2003 and is a founding member of The Un-Scripted Theater Company.

Jennifer Kah Jennifer Kah has been performing and teaching improv for nine years. She has taught privately as well as with BATS Improv and Academy of Art College. She is currently an instructor, staff member, and performer with The Un-Scripted Theater Company.

Tara McDonough Tara McDonough has been improvising for more than ten years, and has trained in London, Maine, Boston, Seattle, and San Francisco. She holds a BA in Performing Arts from Colby College in Waterville, Maine, has worked at theatres all over the country, including Marin Theatre Company, BATS Improv, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and New Repertory Theatre, and was co-founder of Printer's Devil Theater at Seattle. Contact Tara

Mandy Khoshnevisan Over the past nine years or so, Mandy Khoshnevisan has performed with Spontaneous Generation, the Stanford Improvisors, Scenic Root Longform, BATS Improv, and The Un-Scripted Theater Company. Contact Mandy

David Norfleet David Norfleet is an award-winning composer and sound engineer who has done extensive work for theatre, film, television, multimedia, WWW, and dance. He provides improvisational music for groups around the Bay Area, including The Un-Scripted Theater Company, The Fibbs, and BATS Improv.

Susan Snyder Susan Snyder is an improvisor, drama therapist, teacher, and trainer. She is passionate about the power and possibilities of improvisation to foster creativity, connections, community, and healing. Since 1996, she has been spreading the improv experience— performing, teaching, and training at settings ranging from schools to nursing homes to corporations. Susan is also an experienced teacher/trainer in communication and presentation skills. She is proud to be a founding member of the Un-Scripted Theater Company.

Christian Utzman Christian Utzman has been an improvisor for over 14 years and is currently a full time improv actor & teacher for stage, street, and film. He is a founding member of the Un-Scripted Theater Company, and is working on finishing his book on improvisation in 2009. Contact Christian

Un-Scripted Class Info

Please sign up for classes through the contact person provided in the class description. If online payment is available, make sure that you have a space reserved in the class before you pay!

Policy varies according to class and instructor. For some of our classes, payment can be made the day of the first class. For other classes, full payment is required before the first class session.

For classes requiring prepaid tuition, prices include a $50 non-refundable deposit. Sorry! This is usually because we have had to turn others away to hold your spot. For these prepaid classes, if the class costs less than $50, the tuition is non-refundable.

Other policies:

If we have to cancel the class you signed up for
If The Un-Scripted Theater Company cancels a class that you have signed up for, you will receive a refund check for the full tuition.

If you want to drop a class / our Refund Policy
If you have registered for a prepaid class and decide you want to drop that class BEFORE THE FIRST CLASS SESSION, you must notify the Teacher at least 72 hours before the start of the first class. You will receive a refund check for the amount of the class minus your non-refundable $50 deposit.

If you decide to drop a prepaid class AFTER THE FIRST CLASS SESSION, there is no partial refund of your class tuition. Again, sorry! We have this policy for our classes that have waiting lists. We can usually fill an open slot BEFORE the first session of these classes. However, once a class starts, it may be difficult or impractical to fill the open slot.

If you forget to show up to the class you paid for
If you sign up for a class and forget to come, The Un-Scripted Theater Company cannot refund your payment. The Un-Scripted Theater Company does not call to confirm all class registrations.

If you write a check but don't have the money in the account when we cash it
You will be charged a $10 fee for any bounced checks, plus you still have to pay for the class. Don't do it!

If you want to do a Work Study or get Financial Aid
Currently, The Un-Scripted Theater Company does not offer any financial aid programs or scholarships. We do sometimes have work study programs. If you would like to see if there is a TA slot open for a class, contact the teacher for the class in question.

Still have questions about stuff?
Please feel free to email us: Info Questions

Sign up on the Un-Scripted Email List to receive emails about shows, classes, and special offers!

Become one of Un-Scripted's first subscribers, new for the 2009 season!

Voted BEST THEATER COMPANY,
SF Bay Guardian's
Best of the Bay 2008