Date

25/3  8:30 pm

Venue

Kunstfabrik Schlot

Berlin’s jazz club Schlot has been a regular venue of Die Gorillas (every Tuesday) for 12 years now. In her “bar”, Gorilla Barbara welcomes the most musical of her international colleagues in order to explore the heights and depths of life – soulfully, funny, directly. It’s an improvised, multi-facetted trip through all the circumstances life offers. 

In German and English

Date

25/3  8 pm

Venue

English Theatre Berlin

A city’s sound has a special ring. This show is about the funny and tragic moments in the everyday life of a big city. What’s special about this is that the inspiration will mostly come from those whose importance for a successful improv show is often underestimated: the musicians. They – in this case Hannu Risku (Stella Polaris/Finland), Gilly Alfeo (Die Springmäuse/Bonn) and Rudy Redl (Die Gorillas) – will inspire the acting cast with their sound files and instruments and push them to peak performances. 

In German and English

Date

23/3  8 pm

Venue

Bühnenrausch

Berlin's improv scene meets IMPRO 2014. The first part of the show is a competition for who gets to play the main part – the actors will enter their favourite improv games, and the audience will then choose one actor. The audience then endows him or her with a new identity, thus marking the birth of the star of the second half... 

In German

Date

29/3  8:30 pm

Venue

Ratibor Theater

This show was requested by the participants of the festival: a show without firm structure, free-style improv, a free flight through languages and styles, with (almost) all of the festival’s artists. Improvised theatre full of energy and risks. The Ratibor’s stage will be packed, for the performing cast will be joined by their colleagues playing at other venues as soon as the final curtain lets them hurry back to the Gorillas' home base. Tons of improv at the end of the festival - in three acts with two intermissions. 

In all festival languages

Date

21/3  8 pm

Venue

Theater am Kurfürstendamm

Last year, we premiered our opening show at Theater am Kurfürstendamm, and after the overwhelming success we are overjoyed to be able to start IMPRO yet again on one of Berlin’s most beautiful theatre stages. An evening marked by opulence – it must be hard to find a greater variety of international improvised theatre art at the same time and on the same stage. If you want to get a first impression of some 30 – which amounts to (almost) all participants of IMPRO 2014 - you mustn’t miss this show.

In all festival languages.

Date

22/3  8:30 pm

Venue

Ratibor Theater

Improvised scenes played according to certain rules (e.g. the "ABC scene", where each sentence has to start with the next letter in the alphabet) are very popular with the global improv community. 10 players of the festival ensemble from 10 different countries each introduce their favourite improv game, and a jury made up of audience members will choose the best one at the end. It’s a scorching roller-coaster ride through the international landscape of improvised theatre. 

In English

Date

29/3  4:30 pm

Venue

Ratibor Theater

The Gorillas‘ cult show – running non-stop for 17 years at the Ratibor. Three directors, members of the festival ensemble, in a competition. They let actors play. They let them sing. They direct and machinate. They perform their own dances. They want to win your favour! 

In German.

Date

22/3  4:30 pm

Venue

Ratibor Theater

The Gorillas‘ cult show – running non-stop for 17 years at the Ratibor. Four directors, members of the festival ensemble, in a competition. They let actors play. They let them sing. They direct and machinate. They perform their own dances. They want to win your favour! 

In English

Date

24/3  8 pm

Venue

English Theatre Berlin

It’s always a special evening when the language on stage is neither German nor English, but French. First-time guests at our festival "Impro Infini" are also organisers of a festival ("Subito") in their native Brest, on which we collaborate. Our French colleagues will meet Kevin Gillese (Dad's Garage/Atlanta) and Lucien Bourjeily (Impro Beirut) on stage. They will be inspired not only by the audience’s charming suggestions, but also by special atmospheric lighting and sounds – o la la. 

In French

Date

26/3  8 pm

Venue

Mehringhof-theater

It’s one of IMPRO’s long-running hits, and naturally, the audience will determine not only what is sung about at the Improvision Song Contest, but also which country gets the most points for their improvised song. Six singers from six countries take part in the contest, with hip hop or blues songs, arias or hard rock, chansons or songs in the style of Abba. Who has the prettiest voice? Whose lyrics are the most quick-witted? Who touches the audience's hearts most poignantly? And our twelve points go to... 
In all festival languages

Date

27/3  8 pm

Venue

English Theatre Berlin

Two years ago, we tried it for the first time, and an amazing amount of stuff went wrong: mobile phone cameras streamed improvised events live into the theatre (that is, most of the time, sometimes there were hitches), where the same theme was taken up and continued, until the next switch to the outside world, and then back to the theatre et cetera et cetera. If you feel like an improvised adventure and moving moments (the most impressive one occurred when things went wrong and the protagonists didn’t realise they were being filmed), this is the show for you. In co-operation with the awesome nerds from Ape Unit, we attempt to develop this format further. 

In English

Date

29/3  8 pm

Venue

Mehringhof-theater

IMPRO 2013 saw their Berlin premiere, where they took the hearts of the festival audience by storm: La Triviata from Munich, an ensemble of professional classic singers who have succumbed to the improv virus. We are happy to have managed to secure them again for our Berlin festival, and as our special guests they will be adding a very special musical flair to IMPRO. If you missed their brand of improvised opera last time, you shouldn’t pass up this opportunity. In this show, they will perform together with members of the festival cast.

In German and English

Date

28/3  8 pm

Venue

Mehringhof-theater

IMPRO 2013 saw their Berlin premiere, where they took the hearts of the festival audience by storm: La Triviata from Munich, an ensemble of professional classic singers who have succumbed to the improv virus. We are happy to have managed to secure them again for our Berlin festival, and as our special guests they will be adding a very special musical flair to IMPRO. If you missed their brand of improvised opera last time, you shouldn’t pass up this opportunity.

In German

Date

28/3  5 pm

Venue

Ratibor Theater

Meta impro is a daring performance where different genres of theatre, discussion and personal confessions interact. The four performers - the inventor of the show, Maja Dekleva Lapajne (Kolektiv Narobov, Ljubljana), Lorenz Kabas (Theater im Bahnhof, Graz), Inbal Lori (Three Falling, Tel Aviv) and the musician Hannu Risku (Stella Polaris, Helsinki) - are coming from different countries, cultures and theatre backgrounds and offer completely different points of view of what improvisation is, what it could be and why they keep doing it. Their curiosity and the respect for each other result in a powerful inspiring performance. Meta impro is a show about shows, an improvisation about improvisation. A gentle journey into artists’ deepest thoughts about their work and life while they are trying to improvise themselves.

In English

Date

22/3  8 pm

Venue

English Theatre Berlin

A first ride through the world of film at the beginning of the festival. Whether you want horror flicks or Spaghetti Westerns, soap operas or documentaries, epic sandal movies or “Berlin school” films – our international cast will try to accommodate your every wish. The big screen on a theatre stage – a roller-coaster ride of cinematic enjoyment.

In English

Date

28/3  8 pm

29/3  8 pm

Venue

English Theatre Berlin

Again, the main theme of the festival. After we applied ourselves to several playwrights in 2011, the main focus of IMPRO 2014 is on the improvised application of the style of various film directors (R.W. Fassbinder and Quentin Tarantino) as well as genres ("Romantic Comedy" and "Fantasy"). The festival ensemble will study these specialised improv formats in two-day workshops before they improvise a show on two nights but not without enquiring what the audience's own associations and suggestions are. 

In English

Date

25/3  8:30 pm

26/3  8:30 pm

Venue

Ratibor Theater

This is the festival’s main theme. After we applied ourselves to several playwrights in 2011, the main focus of IMPRO 2014 is on the improvised application of the style of various film directors (R.W. Fassbinder and Quentin Tarantino) as well as genres ("Romantic Comedy" and "Fantasy"). The festival ensemble will study these specialised improv formats in two-day workshops before they improvise a show on two nights – but not without enquiring what the audience's own associations and suggestions are. 

In German and English

Date

28/3  11 am

Venue

Mehringhof-theater

Twelve young improvisers from the beautiful town of Victoria in western Canada are guests at IMPRO, taking part in workshops with the internationally acclaimed stars of the genre. This morning they will present their own improv show. The next improv generation is ready and shows scenes of all kinds - fresh, vivid and of course inspired by the experiences of their week at IMPRO 2014.

In English

Date

30/3  7 pm

Venue

Ratibor Theater

As always, the very last show belongs to the audience. For you get the chance to improvise with some of the players from all over the world – take it! 

In all festival languages

Date

23/3  4 pm

23/3  5:30 pm

23/3  7 pm

Venue

Markthalle Neun

Play with us – literally. For the first time, IMPRO offers its audience the chance to be more than just spectators: to actually improvise scenes with the actors of the international festival ensemble. How is that possible? At the Markthalle in Kreuzberg, there are five different stops where one member of the festival ensemble is waiting to improvise a scene with two of you. So, after one hour of show, you’ll have played five individual scenes with three actors each (1 cast member, 2 „audience members“) in a kind of improv circle with five different improv pros. You can enrol in pairs or on your own (in which case we’ll allocate another player to you). An extraordinary opportunity to improvise with extraordinary players – go for it! 

In German and English

Date

24/3  7:30 pm

Venue

Klavierwerkstatt

The (not so) secret and maybe eerie life of Goecke und Farenholtz’ piano workshop... If noises were people, what kind of character would they have? Together with the audience’s imagination, characters are created on the basis of the sounds of the workshop. The piano workshop will gradually be populated and conquered. An eerie theatrical experience!

In English

Date

23/3  8:30 pm

Venue

Kunstfabrik Schlot

Tried, tested, popular, and this time with an emphasis on music, at our long-standing location, Schlot: the search for the best, weirdest, most imaginative improvised scene. Five players compete and direct a story played out by the other actors in several parts. The audience eliminates one scene after another, until finally only one is left to be brought to conclusion: THE Superscene! 

In English

Date

22/3  8 pm

Venue

Bühnenrausch

Berlin's improv scene meets IMPRO 2014. The first part of the show is a competition for who gets to play the main part – the actors will enter their favourite improv games, and the audience will then choose one actor. The audience then endows him or her with a new identity, thus marking the birth of the star of the second half... 

In English

Date

23/3  7:30 pm

Venue

Ratibor Theater

The 'Tumoristen' are the first improv group of people affected by cancer, who have been playing playback theatre for three years. They defy crises and diseases – they playfully master their illness. They say YES to life, YES to the moment. And they present the audience’s stories with lots of humour and depth. Fascinating and unique.
In German.

Date

26/3  8 pm

Venue

Theater am Kurfürstendamm

It’s an indestructible improv format, this primal cell of the modern form of improvised theatre, and this form has lost none of its strengths. In theatresports, two (or in this case, four) teams compete for the audience's favour, acting and singing their guts out in the process. A sparkling show in co-operation with the most experienced pundits of this genre: Theatersport Berlin.

In German and English

Date

28/3  8:30 pm

Venue

Ratibor Theater

It’s a show with three very different parts: in "Borscht and Bratwurst", Wolfgang Lüchtrath (Cologne) and Eugen Gerein (St. Petersburg/Heidelberg) explore German-Russian relations with comical dramas, tragic songs and absurd stories; Inbal Lori (Tel Aviv) is only the second artist in the history of the festival to present an improvised solo show, but look at that! And in „Kill the Dog“, Amber Nash and Kevin Gillese of Dad's Garage (Atlanta) improvise an entire blockbuster, including tracking shots, director’s notes and all the typical Hollywood ingredients for a thriller of a story. Three very different approaches to improvised theatre from three different cultures – it’s the essence of the festival’s concept. 
In German and English

Date

27/3  8 pm

Venue

Mehringhof-theater

We have an anniversary to celebrate: this show is on the festival schedule for the tenth time, and every year it is a pleasure and a joy to witness improv actresses from all over the world meeting on the stage, giving this show their very own, feminine tone. 
In English