Improbable Announces Three New Projects

• NEW IMPROBABLE SHOW – LOST WITHOUT WORDS – ANNOUNCED IN 2017 NATIONAL THEATRE SEASON

• IMPRO FOR ELDERS IMPROVISATION WORKSHOPS FOR THE OVER 60S AT THE COCKPIT THEATRE IN DOUBLE BILL WITH LIFEGAME

• DEVOTED & DISGRUNTLED 12 TO TAKE PLACE IN BRISTOL, JANUARY 2017

Improbable today announces three new projects: a theatrical show – Lost Without Words; a participation project – Impro For Elders; and a move to Bristol for Devoted and Disgruntled 12.

LOST WITHOUT WORDS – Dorfman Theatre, 4 – 18 March 2017

A co-production between Improbable and the National Theatre.

Improbable’s directors Lee and Phelim have been improvising on stage all their adult lives.  Then one day they had a fantasy: what would happen if they took older actors in their 70s and 80s, actors who had spent their lives on stage bringing life to a writer’s words, actors who – now they are old – appear in our theatres less and less; what would happen if they put those actors on stage without a script? What scenes would they create? What stories would they unfold? What might they tell us about what awaits us all at the other end of life?

We are about to find out. Lost Without Words – a theatrical experiment.

Improbable’s Artistic Directors Phelim McDermott and Lee Simpson will co-direct with Colin Grenfell as Lighting Designer and music by Steven Edis.

IMPRO FOR ELDERS & LIFEGAME – Cockpit Theatre, 30 November & 1 December 2016

IMPRO FOR ELDERS: The wisdom of making it up as you go along.
Improbable will be working with a group of older people local to Church Street, Westminster, to create a brand new performance. This show will be presented in a double bill with Improbable’sLifegame.

Keith Johnstone’s LIFEGAME: Part chat show, part impro show.
Improbable have been performing Lifegame around the world since 1998.  A member of the public is interviewed on stage about their life. The stories they tell are dramatized by a company of improvisers. A different guest every show, a different show every night. Instantaneous theatrical biography. In this special version of Lifegame, a member of the Impro For Elders group (also a resident of the Church Street area) will be the guest. What are the stories that only a Church Street local could tell? Join us to find out.

DEVOTED & DISGRUNTLED 12 – Passenger Shed at Brunel’s Old Station, Bristol 14 – 16 January 2017

Improbable’s 12th annual Devoted & Disgruntled event gets under way in January 2017, in partnership with Theatre Bristol.

At a time of economic and social uncertainty, it’s more important than ever for the UK’s theatre and arts community to unite around the issues that really matter, share concerns, and work together to strengthen the creative community. D&D is an opportunity for arts people at every point in their careers, from audiences to artists, CEOs to FOH staff, grassroots groups to seasoned professionals, to come together and focus on the question WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT THEATRE AND THE PERFORMING ARTS?

The biggest ever D&D – For its 12th annual event, Devoted & Disgruntled heads to the magnificent Passenger Shed at Bristol Temple Meads, providing space for more people than ever before to come together and get to grips with the issues that really matter to the UK arts community.

Why Bristol? – 2015’s event in Birmingham – the first annual D&D outside London – was a sell-out success, with 300 people generating almost 100 reports over the weekend. Bristol, as a creative hub with a thriving theatre community and an embedded Open Space practice, seemed the natural next location for this national event. D&D 12 is being hosted in partnership with Theatre Bristol, the city’s unique network of theatre producers and organisations, and is also supported by Tobacco Factory Theatres.