Educational Outreach

SHOWS

Storybox

"Good evening, we are Story-tellers and we are here to tell you a story. The only thing we need to know is whether you want tonight's story to be about a man or a woman?" With those simple words, Storybox begins its epic journey.

Storybox is a 90-minute one-act theatre production for adult audiences, created and performed by an ensemble of improvisational storytellers. In 2008, Piven Theatre will produce Storybox for a month long run as the debut show of their Performance Lab series. The show will run from Janaury 10 - February 3, with performances on Thursday-Saturday @ 7:30pm, and Sunday @ 2:30pm.

Storybox origins are inspired and influenced by Paul Sills' Tony award-winning Broadway show Story Theater, the poetry and ritual of Japan's Noh Theatre, the movement of Anne Bogart's Viewpoints techniques, Keith Johnstone's narrative ideas, Robert LePage's source process, Del Close's long-form tenets, Joseph Campbell's mythic psychology, and the vast scope of the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1980 production of "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby" to forge together a single unscripted story featuring multiple narrations and sub-stories within a larger story.

The actors use 3 foot long wooden sticks and 2 foot long colored pieces of cloth to serve as costumes, locations, and props. Under the guidance of the show's Musical Director, the actors also employ hand held instruments to build soundscapes that underscore the various moods of the story. The highly talented ensemble of theatre artists also use movement, scene-work, and transformations to develop the arc of the story, as well as it's characters, themes, and scene structure. Storybox also features evocative improvised environments, imagery, and stage tableaux that bring the audience along on the main character's epic and personal life passages.

Debuting in 2004, Storybox has been in constant development and evolution over the past four years. Various versions of Storybox has appeared at the Around The Coyote Arts Festival, Chicago Improv Festival, The Improv Playhouse, Live Bait Theater, The Open Space, San Franciscio Improv Festival, The Second City Skybox, and the Toronto Improv Festival.

Storybox has a diverse company of professional actors, musicians, and stage managers whose collective acting, directing, and teaching credits which include: Barrel of Monkeys, Black Ensemble Theatre, Congo Square Theatre, ComedySportz, Goodman Theatre, Gorilla Tango Theatre, iO, Local Infinites, Lookingglass Theatre, Piven Theatre, Redmoon Theatre, The Second City, Steppenwolf Theatre, Teatro Vista, and Victory Gardens Theatre, among others.

Storybox's company for the Piven Theatre run is Marla Caceres, John Hildreth, Elise Lammers, Jonathan Pitts, Kristala Pouncy, Jenn SavaRyan, Jeremy Schaefer, Jonathan Wagner, Kelly Williams, and Joe Yau. The stage manager is Dujuan Pritchett.

Storybox is created, developed and directed by Jonathan Pitts. He's the Co-Founder of the Chicago Improv Festival and the Executive Director of Chicago Improv Festival Productions.

Storybox for Kids

Join Chicago Improv Festival Productions as they present Storybox for Young Audiences, an imaginative and inventive, fully improvised 45 minute long theatre production that is enthralling and enrapturing to children and teens alike.

Inspired by a combination of Second City co-founder Paul Sills Story Theater and Japan's Noh Theatre, the company creates a single story from multiple ensemble narrative and storytelling techniques. The performers develop their original story from two audience suggestions and then incorporate text, physical movement, props, and sound effects into the work. The production shows students the eternal value of storytelling, communal mythology, and shared creativity.

Touring since October 2004, Storybox for Young Audiences has performed over 125 shows to over 15,000 children and teens in the Chicago area. In 2008, Storybox for Young Audiences will continue their 4th consective year touring for Urban Gateways, Chicago's premiere presenting arts organization. Storybox for Young Audiences has also toured for the Chicago Park District, to several Chicago Public Libraries, and they've also done shows for After School Matters and suburbian libraries.

Storybox for Young Audiences is performed by four diverse professional actors, from a larger core company who's members all have wide and varied Chicago theatre credits. The show is created and directed by Jonathan Pitts.

To book a Storybox for Young Audiences performance at your event, please call the Chicago Improv Festival Productions office at 773.953.9810 or email at jpitts@chicagoimprovfestival.org

Viola Spolin: Visionary Woman of Play

Chicago Improv Festival Productions presents Viola Spolin: Visionary Woman of Play, an entertaining and unique 45 minute long original theatre performance about the originator of modern improvisational theatre games.

Everyone knows that Chicago is the birthplace and mecca for modern improvisational comedy theatre, but not everyone knows who got it started, and how and why it did. This performance shows Viola Spolin creating the foundation of improvisational theatre while she was in her 20's working with poverty children at the Hull House on the north side of Chicago.

Viola Spolin: Visionary Woman of Play is an interactive performance that actively does several things including, tell the life story of improv's belated mother Viola Spolin, give examples of the 100+ games Viola created, demonstrate a Viola Spolin style workshop, give a social-historical background to Chicago during the time period (30's through the 50's) when Viola did most of her work, and allows the audience to be part of the play too.

The performance features an all-woman cast of 4 actors, 1 musical director, and 1 moderator. The show begins with the cast on-stage playing the children's game Kitty Wants A Corner while the musical director and the moderator encourage the audience members to get up and play the game too.

Then the moderator tells the life-story of Viola Spolin, while the cast using Viola's son Paul Sills Story Theatre techniques acts out Viola's life from childhood to her death. Viola's life story is told in three sections, and during those sections, photos of Viola are projected overhead (the photos are from the Spolin/Sills family archives).

In between those three sections, the cast describes, demonstrates, and performs various Viola Spolin games while a rotating cast member sits out to side coach the games (like Viola would have done). After the games are played, the side coach asks the audience what they saw and experienced. Through out the show, a total of 10 different games are performed by the cast.

At the end of the show, the audience knows about Viola Spolin and her place in Chicago theater as the source of all modern improvisational stage work.

The production debuted in 2006 at the Harold Washington Chicago Public Library, and it was part of their Women's History Month. The show is created and directed by Jonathan Pitts.

To book a Viola Spolin: Visionary Woman of Play performance at your event, please call the Chicago Improv Festival Productions office at 773.953.9810 or email at jpitts@chicagoimprovfestival.org

World Tales

New for the 2007/2008 school year, Chicago Improv Festival Productions is proud to present World Tales, an original and charming 45 minute theatre performance of three folk tales from the continents of Africa, Asia, and South America.

The diverse company of actors employ story theatre techniques to bring these funny and magical stories to life with the creative use of long wooden sticks, multi-colored cloths, and hand-held musical instruments. Wrapping up the fascinating presentation to a wonderful close, the cast plays a group improvisational storytelling game based on a suggestion taken from the audience.

The three adapted folk-tales are "The Dreaming Tree" from Brazil, "The Story Spirits" from Korea, and "Where Stories Come From" from a traditional Zulu story. All three folk-tales tie into a larger theme of stories, storytellers, and storytelling.

World Tales currently tours for Urban Gateways, and the production features an ensemble of four professional theatre actors. Storybox's World Tales is created and directed by Jonathan Pitts.

To book a World Tales performance at your event, please call the Chicago Improv Festival Productions office at 773.953.9810 or email at jpitts@chicagoimprovfestival.org