Taking it to the Stage

Timothy Roach

Teacher - Drama

The BSC intermediate & Senior Theatresports Teams participated in Impro Melbourne's annual Theatresports Schools Challenge this term.

Both the Intermediate and Senior teams battled tough competition from schools across Melbourne - but each earned victory in their category!  Theatresports is reliant on the team members' ability to think on their feet, to improvise a response to a 'scene' that can be built upon by their peers.  It requires quick but lateral thinking, 

Intermediate

The BSC Intermediate Team (Years 7 to 9) included Saskia Black, Violet Cochrane Baker, Gabriel Di Falco, Emily Lynch (Year 8) and Liv Talko (Year 8).  

Even having had much less experience in the live theatresports arena, this team has proved themselves beyond doubt.  Their  ability to read each other, bounce off each other, support, encourage and champion each other's talent is fabulous.  Their triumph is well earned and highly applauded.

Senior

Senior Team (Years 10 to 12) Theodore Koch (Year 10), Max McKenzie Fitzpatrick (Year 11), Felix Melchior (Year 10), Lisette Wilkinson (Year 12) and Zachary Yiolitis (Year 10) make up our Senior Theatresports team, and have been working together in this creative space for a number of years, alongside others.  

Over the years, these students have built amazing skills and can really make the most of the improvisation genre - they are creative, innovative, comedic and very exciting to watch. Earning First Place in the Senior Category is a true reflection of their collective talent, collaborative skills as well as their trust in, and support of, each other.

About Theatre sports

Theatresports is a form of improvisational theatre, which uses the format of a competition for dramatic effect. Opposing teams perform scenes sight unseen (supplied by organisers or audience suggestion) and are scored by the audience or by a panel of judges. 

Improvisational theatre is, first of all, great fun.  Behind the fun, however, is a great deal of hard work and tenacity.  On a technical level, team  members  must concentrate  on the evolution of the given task/storyline they are portraying, while remembering to adhere to game rules as well as exercise their acting skills.  

As a team sport, theatresports is just as reliant on individual and collaborative skills as any other sport.  As in sport,  team members are working toward a goal - that is, to effectively communicate an idea to the audience. They must first have a team strategy,  and when on the stage they must 'read the play'. They need to  anticipate the actions of their teammates, and play to their strengths. For example, the team member that begins the improv must deliver a narrative in a way that supplies options to allow the next member to pick up the 'play' (story) easily; this player then does the same for the next and so on - a bit like passing a ball down a field while dodging potential obstacles!