An empirical study of cognition and theatrical improvisation

Abstract

This paper presents preliminary findings from our empirical study of the cognition employed by performers in improvisational theatre. Our study has been conducted in a laboratory setting with local improvisers. Participants performed predesigned improv "games", which were videotaped and shown to each individual participant for a retrospective protocol collection. The participants were then shown the video again as a group to elicit data on group dynamics, misunderstandings, etc. This paper presents our initial findings that we have built based on our initial analysis of the data and highlights details of interest.

A comparison of interactive narrative system approaches using human improvisational actors

“…It should be noted that, while there is abundant work on simulating realistic human behaviors and emotions, there is relatively fewer attempts to model theatrical actors, especially those that improvise scenes. Empirical studies reveal rich but computationally representable processes in improv actors [14,13], especially related to narrative reasoning [4].…”

“…Because we cannot yet build the perfect interactive narrative system, we turn to a human analogue: improvisational theatre. In improvisational theatre, actors perform under some number of constraints to create a scene in real-time [13]. Through improv performances, we create the conditions analogous to emergent and hybrid interactive narrative systems.…”

“…A closely related project is the Digital Improv project [14,13], which attempts to analyze human improvisation in the context of improv theater with the goal of building computational models of human improv acting. This project may eventually shed light on how to build computational actors for use in emergent or hybrid interactive narrative systems.…”

“Give Me Every Idea You Have”: Building with Improvisation in Engineering Education

“…To most of us, improvisation is an action to spontaneously adapt to the unexpected in real time-an activity that we do every day, most generally at unpredictable times 5,6 . To a drama teacher or performer, improvisation/improv refers to methods and frameworks used to scaffold a successful unscripted performance 4,5 .…”

“…Spontaneity is, of course, the signature feature of improvisation in general 2,3,6 . It is also a key feature of most active learning pedagogies, particularly those that involve small-group collaboration.…”