With support from the California Arts Council, POSITIVE ACTION COMMUNITY THEATRE will provide improvisational theatre workshops, performance opportunities, employment, and training to teens and young adults with autism. We will teach them social and communication skills that will help them reach their goals, and give them a much-needed community. They will also master an art, which will be their lifelong ally, and open many doors for them.
We will videotape our workshops and create episodes of the “Joy of Improv TV Series”, which we will provide to organizations that serve teens and young adults with disabilities in the blue areas of the California Healthy Places Index.
We will use CAC funds to assist in funding the salaries of our project director, teachers, and artists, and for liability insurance, workshop room rental, telephone, and internet costs.
“Improv to a Musical” – Fall16-session program: the group creates and performs a musical they develop from improv. Wil Fisher directs the musical, with troupe members assisting. The group weaves their improvs together into the plot of the musical, which they rehearse and then perform for our community. They learn cooperation, creative expression, and gain confidence through the process.
“Joy of Improv” – Winter/Spring 16-session workshop series: We utilize improv theatre to teach social and communication skills, and have fun! Wil Fisher uses his masters in applied theatre to effectively engage the group. They begin in a circle, sharing about their lives since the last workshop. Then, they enjoy improvs like the “gift game” where they hand each other ‘gifts’, and the recipient describes the gift, based on how the gift-giver delivered the gift. This promotes creative thinking and flexibility, and gets them relating to each other. After that they participate in more involved improv skits where they perform for each other (See “New Choice” video clip for another example).
“Joy of Improv” – Summer 6-session workshop series: led by 3 young adults with autism. They use the same curricula as is used in the winter/spring program led by Wil Fisher, and master their teaching skills while being the best possible role models for their students.
We will record our workshops, edit them into episodes of the “Joy of Improv TV Series”, and make them available to new teens and young adults with disabilities living in the blue areas of the California Healthy Places Index.
We will provide weekly virtual “Joy of Improv” workshops. In addition to modified curriculum from our in-person workshops, the group reads in character from popular scripts, like ‘Star Wars’.