In The Improvisation, the team behind The Audition reunited to push the boundaries of interactive, meta, non-linear narrative theatre. The result is a game show structured as live Improvisation Games. An onstage Director introduces the audience to his current topic of research: Marriage. According to the research a marriage usually has 5 stages: Romance, Disillusionment, Power Struggle, Disorientation and Acceptance. He invited 5 actor couples from 5 generations of Iran’s theatre to improvise around these 5 stages in front of an audience. The audience is invited to vote for their favourite couple. The situations to be improvised come from a nationwide request for dramatic, tricky situations that real life couples find themselves in. The five acting couples compete for the audience vote and improvise 2 situations each chronologically. During the final scene (acted by the eldest actors), the youngest actor jumps up and punches the eldest actor in the face. A chaotic scene ensues where we understand that the scenes were not improvised, they were written. The actors are all playing different versions of the same characters. We see how deeply the youngest version of the character is disappointed in his older self. We understand the divorce, the loss of the children, the immigration, the business empire were all part of one life, and the argument becomes about the many regrets and reproaches attached to a life journey.
Director: Arvand Dashtaray
Playwright: Naghmeh Samini
Graphic Designer: Arman Koochaki
Actors: Reza Kianian , Fatemeh Naghavi, Amirhossein Fathi, Marene Van Holk, Bahram Afshari, Setareh Pesyani, Kazem Sayahi, Elham Korda, Meysam Mirzayei, Diba khatami
