Improvisation in Drama, Theatre and Performance: History, Practice, Theory

Improvisation is a tool for many things: performance training, rehearsal practice, playwriting, therapeutic interaction and somatic discovery. This book opens up the significance of improvisation across cultures, histories and ways of performing our life, offering key insights into the what, the how and the why of performance.
It traces the origins of improvisation and its influences, both as a social and political phenomenon and its position in performance training. Including history, theory and practice, this new edition encompasses Theatre and Performance Studies as well as Drama, acknowledging the rapid reconfiguration of these fields in recent years. Its coverage also now extends to improvisation in the USA, cinema, LARPing, street events and the improvising audience, while also looking at improv's relationship to stand-up comedy, jazz, poetry and free movement practices. With an index of exercises and an extensive bibliography, this book is indispensable to students of improvisation.

Anthony Frost is Director of the University of East Anglia Studio and Course Director for Scriptwriting and Performance at the University of East Anglia, UK. He has devised and co-written a number of full-length plays, and taught in Germany and America. His previous publications include the edited volume Theatre Theories (2000).

Ralph Yarrow is Professor Emeritus of Drama and Comparative Literature at the University of East Anglia, UK. He has directed over 60 productions, acted in many others and conducted workshops in the UK, Germany, India and South Africa. His publications include Indian Theatre and Lecoq in Britain (edited with Franc Chamberlain).