Ever wonder how a great play is created? Come watch it happen in real time! The Un-Scripted Theater Company®️ proudly presents The Play's The Thing, a full-length stage play improvised before your eyes, with no plan, no edits, and no do-overs. Each evening is a brand-new, world premiere play inspired by your suggestions. Come see what makes San Francisco narrative longform improvisation so unique, by an ensemble that has specialized in it for 15+ years. This is as live as theater gets!

Fridays and Saturdays, 8pm

Cast

Featured

Andy

Andy Sarouhan is a Bay Area native. His improvisation training began in 1992, when he joined his high school improvisation team. That event started a chain reaction that eventually resulted in a BA in Theatre from UC San Diego and an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Riverside. Since 2003, Andy has improvised professionally with Flash Family and the Un-Scripted Theater Company, joining the Un-Scripted ensemble in 2013. In 2015, he and fellow Un-Scripted ensemble member created Andy & Jerry are The Trifecta, a popular improvised show that has been featured at the San Francisco Improvisation Festival and has included some tremendous guest improvisers. Andy has also been a busy improvisation coach since 2001, leading courses for ImprovWorks, UC Riverside, American Conservatory Theater, Cal Shakes, BATS Improv, Un-Scripted Theater Company, and some incredible high school improv troupes in San Mateo. Andy is a frequent director for Un-Scripted Theater Company, including the improvised formats Beloved Strangers, Life in SF, and The Short & The Long of It.

Derek

Derek Cochran is enjoying his twentieth year performing improvisation in the Bay Area. Throughout those years, he was inspired by and fortunate enough to work with some of the most talented improvisers in the country. He credits his love of long form improvisation to his early instructors, Diane Rachel and Carol Hazenfield, for showing him that improv can go beyond a simple funny game and create a rich tapestry of all kinds of stories. Currently he is proud to work with the Un-Scripted Theater Company ensemble, where they allow him to obey the inscrutable exultation of his soul. He gives thanks to his family, his Treasure Island Pirate dogs, and to all the improvisers who he has worked with, been taught by, and failed spectacularly with; throughout the years.

"Hell is empty and all the devils are here." ~ The Tempest

Ian

Ian was first exposed to improv as an eleven-year-old in a class at Walnut Street Theatre! Since then, he's performed in numerous sketch and improv groups in Philadelphia and the Bay Area, including the Stanford Fleet Street Singers and Stanford Improvisors. His favorite gig has been teaching improvisational theater at Hillsdale High School with the most talented group of teenagers he's ever met. When the sun's out, Ian does marketing for GreatNonprofits and serves as the chair of the Advisory Board for Camp Kesem at Stanford.

Merrill

Merrill Gruver has been performing with the Un-Scripted Theater Company since 2009, and joined the artistic staff in 2011. She studied acting at Brown University and The Neighborhood Playhouse under Sanford Meisner. Merrill is a graduate of BATS improv and performed regularly with The Sunday Players. She is a member of Shakespeare's Stepchild, which performs improvised Shakespeare in Dolores Park. Merrill teaches drama at Peninsula School.

Peter

Peter Chapman is an executive coach by day and improviser by night. He learned about improv at Stanford, which is also where he learned about being queer and his relationship with depression. A nerd at heart, he has directed shows such as Space Trip and Adventure Quest. When he’s not working, he can usually be found somewhere on the California coastline or cooking with a lot of butter.

Steven

Steven Anacker first caught the improv bug in the mid-‘90s as a member of Short Order Theater in New York City. In San Francisco, Steven has been lucky enough to play with the Leela Theatre, Secret Improv Society and BATS, as well as experimenting with new formats as a founding member of BoyGirlBoy, TwoXFour and the Improv Artists. Steven is thrilled to be a member of Un-Scripted Theater Company.

Susie

Susie Sargent discovered and fell in love with improv over 20 years ago and enjoys sharing her passion through training, teaching and performing. She has taught the skills of improvisation to students aged 3 – 80. Susie is an ensemble and staff member of Un-Scripted Theater Company and loves surprising the audience and creating rich and diverse characters. Her ideal evening at home is a dinner party with improvisors who are likely to break into interpretative dance at any moment.

Sam

Sam Miceli is a video game art director by day, and an improvisor by night. She has a degree in illustration from Rhode Island School of Design, where she focused on visual storytelling. She took her first improv class in 2014, fell in love with long-form improv, and is a graduate of BATS Improv.

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