a general report

This is kind of a rambling post to make up for the lack of posts over the last few weeks. We've been busy rehearsing, and mostly just thinking really deeply and furiously, trying to digest what the honorable Matt Donnelly taught us when he visited on August 18th and 19th.

We're rehearsing in Calhoun Square these days, basing our operations out of an empty room in the office corridor behind the cooking classroom and Comedy Sportz. Tuesday nights from 7 to 10 are spent dashing around the mall and surrounding streets, trying to time things correctly and figure out how to tell stories the Neutrino Twin Cities way.... whatever that means. We're still figuring that out. Matt gave us some excellent tools for scene work, story building, camera movement... a big, full toolbox is what we have. Our job now seems to be to take those tools and build a show that is as strong as possible -- AND make Neutrino feel like something uniquely ours as well.


One of the best things I've gotten out of this project so far is the opportunity to work with improvisers from different "schools." I come from a predominantly short form background, having been raised since early adolescence on a diet of Comedy Sportz and dreams. I've had more long form instruction and experience in the last few years, but nothing beats doing scene work with the kids from the long form side of the tracks. I think the collision between varying styles of acting and storytelling is going to yield some really cool results on film. NTC is made up of people from a number of different smaller improv groups, all of whom know each other with varying degrees of familiarity from taking classes at the Brave New Workshop, or working there or at Comedy Sportz. I get the impression that this makes us unique among the Neutrino cities, since other NVPs have been started by groups that were already formed and had worked together before.

I hope to have some photos soon for this sad, black blog. Tomorrow's rehearsal may yield some images.

-Hannah