The Un-Scripted Theater Company Explained

The Un-Scripted Theater Company (2002 – 2020), was an improvisational theater company in San Francisco, California.^[1] The company performed many kinds of improv formats, such as comedy, mystery, drama, adventure, and musicals, each presented in 4 to 6 week runs each season, each with its own director, format, and vision. Un-Scripted specialized in narrative and genre-based "single-story" improvised theater.

History

Un-Scripted Theater Company was founded in 2002 when the Thursday night performance group, The Belfry, was cut from the line up at San Francisco's BATS Improv. Determined to continue their performance work, 8 of the original 20 improvisors of The Belfry left and started Un-Scripted Theater Company in January 2003. Since then, Un-Scripted Theater Company has performed hundreds of shows all over the Bay Area, throughout California and across the United States.

Founding members

• Alan Goy
• Brian McBride
• Christian Utzman
• Cort Worthington
• Glenn Etter
• Jennifer Kah
• Susan Snyder
• Tara McDonough

Style

Un-Scripted Theater Company performs both shortform and longform improvisation. Shows are 2 hours long, with one intermission. Improvised theater is rooted in the idea that whatever you can perform with a script, like a play, movie, or musical can also be improvised, with unique and surprising results, which tap into deep universal themes and the innate creativity and individuality of all the players.

Organization

Un-Scripted Theater Company is a 501c3 non-profit performing arts company. It has a core performing ensemble, some of whom make up the company's professional staff. Each show typically features two or more guests from outside the Ensemble. Guest Improvisors are chosen by the director of the show at open auditions, which are held before the start of the show's rehearsal period. Each show has a larger cast size than the number of performers in any given night's show, so the composition of the cast changes each night.

Un-Scripted's rehearsal period and performance schedule that resembles traditional, scripted theater.

Show titles, by year

2012

• Un-Abridged: The Best of Ten Years of Un-Scripted
• Act 1: Scene 2^[2]

2011

• A Tale of Two Genres: An Improvised Dickens Musical
• Fear
• Act 1: Scene 2
• Secret Identity Crisis

2010

• Un-Scripted: un-scripted
• In A World
• A Tale of Two Genres: An Improvised Dickens Musical

2009

• Let it Snow!
• Shakespeare: The Musical
• Un-Scripted: un-scripted

2008

• The Great Puppet Bollywood Extravaganza
• Un-Scripted: un-scripted
• San Francisco Improv Festival
• Theater: The Musical
• Three

2007

• The Great Puppet Musical^[3]
• You Bet Your Improvisor
• The Love Show
• Shakespeare: Un-Scripted^[4]
• Let it Snow!

2006

• Supertrain
• The Impossible Film Project
• Theatresports RAW
• Two Man Longform at the Bay Area Comedy Festival
• You Bet Your ImprovisorThe Short & the Long of It (Abridged) at the Chicago Improv Festival Nine
• Love at First Sight

2005

• Let it Snow!
• The Impossible Film Project
• The Short & the Long of It!^[5]
• Love at First Sight
• You Bet Your Improvisor

2004

• Let It Snow!^[6]
• Fear
• The Short & the Long of It!
• Improvised Bawdy Shakespeare
• Aussie Rules Theatersports
• "Three"
• Bawdy Shakespeare at BATS Improv
• Improv Survivor

2003

• The Cafe Sappore series
• FEAR. reborn
• The Amazing Improvised Musical!
• Improvised Bawdy Shakespeare
• Impro Bingo
• The Short & the Long Of It!
• Spring Sing and Improv Carnival Gala

Further reading

• "Spicy & Cheap: New, improv'd Shakespeare" by Lisa Drostova and Kelly Vance - East Bay Express, July 21, 2004
• "Act Scared: Horror on the spot" by Anneli Rufus, Stefanie Kalem, and Annika Dukes - East Bay Express, October 27, 2004
• "Stage Fog: The Making It Up As We Go Along Edition" - SFist.com, February 25, 2005 (review of You Bet Your Improvisor)
• "The Theater: Comedy Cohabitation Off Union Square" by Michael Katz - Berkeley Daily Planet, October 27, 2006 (review of Supertrain)
• "The audience's input keeps 'Puppet' lively" by Pat Craig - Contra Costa Times, May 7, 2007 (review of The Great Puppet Musical)
• "Your Show Will Be Different" By Paul Sinasohn - San Francisco Bay Times, August 30, 2007 (Review of Shakespeare: Un-Scripted)
• "What the hell did I get myself into?" (audio review of Let it Snow) - The Cool as Hell Theater Show, November 28, 2007
• "Best of the Bay: Nightlife and Entertainment" - SF Bay Guardian, 2008
• "'Let It Snow!' is musical that's made to order" By Sam Hurwitt - Marin Independent Journal, December 2, 2009

External links

• Un-Scripted Theater Company Website
• How the improvisation at the Un-Scripted Theater Company is different and how to get cast in an Un-Scripted Theater Company show

Notes and References

1. News: Hurwitt . Sam . Improv making up for lost time . 2024-03-08 . SFGATE.
2. News: 2012-02-24 . On with the show . 2024-03-08 . Record Searchlight . 15 . Newspapers.com.
3. News: Rhodes . Molly . May 23, 2007 . The Great Puppet Musical: The humans are okay, but the puppets are the real stars . https://web.archive.org/web/20110623031511/https://www.sfweekly.com/2007-05-23/culture/the-great-puppet-musical/ . June 23, 2011 . . 724024787.
4. News: August 29, 2007 . Top Picks: Shakespeare: Un-Scripted . https://web.archive.org/web/20120321195742/http://un-scripted.com/sites/default/files/reviews/20070829_Shakespeare-Top%20Picks.pdf . March 21, 2012 . SFWeekly.
5. News: Hunton . Betsy M. . June 10, 2005 . Playing the Short and the Long of It, Un-Scripted . The Berkeley Daily Gazette.
6. News: Maleshefski . Tiffany . 2004-12-01 . The 'Snow' must go on: Un-Scripted Theater's improv holiday musical unpredictable, funny . 2024-03-08 . . 25 . Newspapers.com.