IMPROVATHONS: FAIL TO PREPARE, PREPARE FOR SUCCESS
Ruth Bratt’s improvathon preparation over the past 15 years has begun by helping put together the event. Many actors who play leading roles in the show also lend a hand. Bratt has, in the past, cooked meals. However, she doesn’t reccomend it.
“Cooking for 50 people is not the greatest way of preparing for the improvathon because you wind up knackered before you start,” she says.
In fact, there is not much you can do to prepare, says Bratt.
So while actors might not be able to do much to prepare, that is not the case for the producers. There is a huge logistical challenge, with set, lighting, sound as well as feeding everyone for the weekend.
For director and producer Adam Meggido, it’s a bit like “putting on a huge wedding.”
Most daunting is to arrange actors who fly in from all corners of the world.
“This is a mammoth task of scheduling,” he says.
The world’s a stage
Hundreds vie to participate but there is only so much stage space, limited beds for travellers and while seemingly a long time, only so many stories can fit into 50 hours, he says.
When the morning of March 8 arrives, long before actors file into the space, Damian Robertson, who will direct the tech of the show, arrives to set up the lights.
These will be rigged and filled with coloured gels. Lighting and sound decks are brought down to the front of the house, so that tech and direction can sit together and make on the spot decisions throughout the weekend of the 50-hour show.
With sound levels checked, Robertson makes sure the band is happy, then always takes a moment to put together a playlist related to the theme of the show, for the 20-minute gaps between episodes.
Mental Load
While many help to bring the show to life before the event, each participant often has a more personal way to prepare for an improvathon.
Ali James, who will co-direct the improvathon alongside Meggido is a fan of “sleep banking.”
James adds naps to her 8-hour a night sleep diet, leading up to the event. She eats well, too, adding foods that aid cognitive functions.
“Every time I eat a walnut, I think, ‘straight to my brain, baby!’” says James.
All of the people, all of the time
To keep track of a rolling cadre of actors flying in and out of episodes, James’ roll call paper, on sized A3 paper, needs to be on point.
“Anything that might stress me out or distract me during the show must be cut,” she says, as by hour 40, any unorganised notes or show code will dance around the page.
Seamus Allen, who has been in more than dozen improvathons this year, says he prepares for sleep loss by being a parent with two kids.
Characterwise, Allen says there is always a comment or a spark of inspiration which sticks to his mind and leads him to the character.
A gesture, rhythm or a piece of costume might spark an interest and then, the voice of the character emerges.
Allen’s says the most crucial decision on costume is comfort, and this must last for all 50 hours.
During the London Improvathon set in a ‘Game of Thrones’-type-medieval kingdom, Allen wore a pair of leather trousers.
“For most of the entire show, it felt like my lower half was in a sauna. Someone lent me a pair of harem pants halfway through. It changed my life.”
Otherwise, Allen says, the first episode is about letting go of expectations.
Out of the closet
Ruth Bratt has a costume box that she digs through a few days before the event. Cat and dog You Tube videos have proved more helpful than any grand designs on character or story.
So while there is no way to prepare for an improvathon, she says, having a laugh with mates that have done the event before does help.
“One year, when Mark Meer and Belinda Cornish came from Canada, we obsessively watched a One Direction video with different voices dubbed over top, singing, “this is the story of my life’,”
It’s nice to create a communal language, she says, before everything begins.