IMPROFEST workshop: Characters you're not allowed to play - Stephen Davidson

Part of the joy of improv is the freedom to play any character, but we sometimes shy away from characters who are very different from ourselves. For example, playing a character from a different cultural background, a different gender, or who has a disability can feel very uncomfortable for some people. We’re scared of causing offence, of getting it wrong, of misrepresenting a viewpoint or experience that is not our own. And let’s be honest, oftentimes these choices are made badly, without proper regard for those who do hold these identities.

If we never try, though, we miss out on a rich pool of characters, and we might never see some of these lives onstage. Worse, we let our fear dictate our art. This workshop focuses on strategies for playing any character in an honest and heartfelt way, on honouring everyone’s agency over their own identity, and on broadening our own knowledge of different human experiences.

Bio:
Stephen Davidson is the Artistic Director of The Improvised Play, Improvable, QI: Queer Improv, Carmen: A gender-swapped Film Noir Fantasy, and of Zeal: The Pride Improv Festival. Stephen is the author of two books about improv, Play Like an Ally and Improvising Gender. Stephen teaches improv independently and through City Academy and Hoopla Improv. He has taught and performed all over the world, and regularly leads improv teacher training courses for theatres and schools. Stephen is also a founding member of Safe Play, a European group working to combat sexual harassment in improv, and a board member of the International Theatresports Institute.

The workshop is a part of Improfest 2025, a theatre festival focusing on improvisational theatre. The festival invites improvisers from Sweden and the rest of the world to give performances and offer workshops in various locations in Sweden during the period May to August 2025

(Workshopen kommer att hållas på engelska då Improfest är en internationell improvisationsteater-festival med inbjudna improvisatörer från hela världen.)