Tales From The Wasteland opens Thursday 20th August at the Hen and Chickens theatre, an improvised post-apocalyptic adventure that will take audiences of a crazy adventure. Learn more about what you can expect:
1: What makes an improvised post-apocalyptic world so much fun to perform?
The post-apocalyptic genre can be full of possibilities and is often thriving with interesting personal stories. People are pushed to their breaking points, conflicts arise and desperation is common. These tense situations can reveal the true character of people and the lengths that you would go to survive and protect your loved ones. There is a lot of juicy drama for us to play with as actors!
On the other hand, the genre also allows us to add a fair amount of fantastical elements with the effects of nuclear radiation on the landscape & animals. We’ve often included talking animals, mutated creatures or otherworldly features. This helps escalate the danger and absurdness of the environment around our characters.
2: What inspired Tales From The Wasteland?
Tales From The Wasteland came primarily as a result of my love of the video game series Fallout (now also a great tv series!). The Mad Max movies also helped inspire the general tone of the show.
When I was developing show ideas for the Bristol Improv Theatre’s Unscripted Players program (the amateur program that allows anyone to direct a new show), the genre was a natural choice for me and I could see a lot of opportunities for fun moments on stage. It is also unique, I’m not aware of any other post-apocalyptic improv shows!
3: As every show is different, can you name a memorable moment from a previous show that has not happened again?
One show a few years ago involved a lot of chairs suddenly being on stage. I can’t remember the full context but there was some call to barricade the gate against an enemy and Ben, one of our cast members, decided it was a great idea to go backstage and start bringing out the actual spare chairs from the theatre onto the stage.
It was an amazing move that had everyone laughing, though I have to say I was a bit worried as the director! It was all fine in the end and made for a great photo (see below).
4: How do you balance the show and audience participation?
Audience participation is very specific in our show – we ask for a suggestion at the start of the show, usually via written cards given to the audience before we start. This suggestion is ‘A modern convenience of life that has survived the apocalypse’ and then build a world for our story around this idea e.g. food delivery services have survived and this is how people get their rations.
5: What’s the biggest challenge making an improvised show?
I would actually say editing! I think part of what makes an improvised narrative engaging is the pacing of the story and the length of the scenes. As everyone in the cast acts as both a performer and a writer for the whole show, it is on all of us to decide when to end each scene. It’s tough to know when an idea has played out and needs to move on or when it needs a bit more breathing room.
Editing can be a really hard skill to learn too, as we often don’t want to seem ‘mean’ and cut another performer off. You just need to learn to go ahead and work on instinct without that fear holding you back. Nobody has ever complained of being edited too early, it’s often the right call!
6: What has been the most enjoyable part about creating Tales From The Wasteland?
It will sound cheesy, but forming a great group of friends in the cast. We have been performing together as the same group for 3+ years now, with the addition of 2 more fantastic people last year.
Over that time we’ve had a lot of rehearsals, shows, socials and events. In rehearsals we spend a considerable amount of time laughing together and it’s always a delight. I think this also translates on stage as we often make each other crack up and the audience can hopefully tell we are having a blast and still enjoying the same show after so many years.
Tales From The Wasteland opens Thursday 20th August at the Hen and Chickens theatre. Many thanks to Pete Leaman for answering our questions. Book your tickets here!
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