Irreverente Festival
Invited groups
In this edition we once again open our doors to improvisation groups. We give importance to improvisers as artists but we also value and support improvisation collectives. And that is why we wanted to bring improvisation groups back to our festival.
BOOK YOUR EARLY BIRD
(SALES 10TH MARCH TO 13TH APRIL
LIMITED AVAILABILITY)
23/04
IMPRONATION
ImproNation is an internationally-minded improvisational comedy group and community based in The Hague, Netherlands, that organizes courses, workshops and performances. It was founded in 2020. Since then, with the help of many dedicated members, it has grown into an international community focused on exploring and teaching improvisational theatre.
"The Dinner: Secrets and Revelations" is a one-act improvised play conceived and directed by Gizem Erbas, and performed by the cast of ImproNation. The show begins with a single suggestion from the audience—a CLUE that will reveal a deeply buried secret. From this starting point, the audience is led to a dinner table surrounded by characters who are all connected to one another.
Throughout the first part of the show, characters come and go, allowing for a dynamic exploration of their personalities and relationships. What begins as a typical dinner party is completely transformed when the clue is found and the secret is revealed. It is at this moment that the story takes an unexpected turn. The once ordinary dinner party unfolds into a whirlwind of emotions, drama and surprises that you would never experience at a regular dinner party!
IMPROMPTWO
ImprompTwo has been performing and teaching improvised theater/improvised storytelling for seven years at festivals around the world, including Sweden, Norway, the UK, Paris, Bulgaria, Germany, as well as several cities in the US and Canada.
Both members of ImprompTwo bring years of experience producing and performing theater in New York and Canada, and this sensibility is reflected in their improv scenes, known for their poetic silences, snappy dialogue, and emotional intensity.
Joe is a professional actor and was the artistic director of the professional theater company Firedrake Productions in New York City.
Kathy is a published playwright who has performed in New York and Toronto.
They studied with several of the world's leading improvisers, including their instructor Gael Dooneweerd-Perry (Amsterdam).
FROM DAWN TO DUSK
The 1960s: A time of anti-war protests, countercultural movements, and the so-called “generation gap.” ImprompTwo returns to its roots with a deep dive into the raw, visceral style of American improvisational theater. Set in the Midwest, where hard work seems in vain and dreams have been cast aside, From Dawn to Dusk explores 12 hours in the lives of people who keep moving forward, even when everything is changing and nowhere feels right. Inspired by the great American playwrights, they will create a beautiful and intense improvised play, full of haunting silences, passion, and pathos.
COIMBRA IMPRO
Founded in January 2022, Coimbra Impro is the first Improvisation Theater group in the Central region of Portugal, within the IMPRO system. The current cast includes 10 improvisers with diverse backgrounds, such as management, psychology, literature, and medicine. In two years, the group has performed more than 20 shows in Coimbra, including events such as TEDx and Theater About Science. We form groups of adults and children (from 4 to 10 years old) and promote workshops in companies, schools, festivals, and for the community. We created the first Impro championship in the region – A Batalha por Coimbra – which will have its third edition in 2025. We want to expand Impro to new audiences and areas of the region.
In "Don Quixote del Impro" we follow the journey of a knight chosen by the public, always alongside his faithful squire Sancho Panza. Our Don Quixote of the day will try to overcome fantastic obstacles, of course, chosen by the public, and others that only he sees. In a duality between the real and the imaginary, between giants and windmills, we will follow him on his journey until he is named Don Quixote del Impro. This guessing game, based on a classic by Miguel de Cervantes, combines the fantastic and the impro.
TOM TOLLENAERE
Tom Tollenaere discovered improvisation in 1997 and fell in love with it immediately. He is currently part of the duo “Bird & Tax Collector”, with the musical show “Talk Radio”. He is the founder and artistic director of RIOT – Royal Improphonic Orchestra & Theatre, focused on long-form musical improvisation, which is celebrating its 16th anniversary. He was also the artistic director of The Lunatics (1999–2005), a Belgian short-form group. He has been working as an improviser since 1997 and teaching since 1999. A specialist in narrative long-form and musical improvisation, he performs and gives workshops at festivals throughout Europe and North America. He also presents the solo “Cookbook”.
It’s time to stir the pot and provide some ingredients for “Cookbook,” Tom Tollenaere’s improvised solo show. The audience provides the ingredients, and Tom’s brain cooks up a feast of characters, concepts, dialogue, scenes, music, songs, and choreography—all created on the spot. It will make sense when it does… even if only in the darkest corners of his mind.
Disclaimer: There is no refund guarantee if the promised choreography doesn't happen. And there is definitely no refund if it does happen.