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Spolin Games
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Articles pertaining to Viola Spolin and her work:

GROUP GAMES AS A LEARNING MODEL  by Gary Schwartz: An article submitted to a teacher's resource website New Horizons for Learning.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO IMPROVISE? by Gary Schwartz

WHY FREEZE TAG IS THE ANTI-IMPROV GAME by Gary Schwartz

IMPROV- WHERE DID YOU COME FROM? by Bruce Bebb reprinted from the Hollywood Reporter's Special Comedy Issue 1988

SHORT-FORM AND LONG-FORM IMPROV by Gary Schwartz

TALES OF VIOLA SPOLIN: HOW I MET VIOLA SPOLIN by Gary Schwartz: a recollection of my meeting with and getting to know the mother of improvisation.

TALES OF VIOLA SPOLIN: On the game of Intensifying Emotion by Gary Schwartz: a recollection of breakthrough I had in Viola's class.

THE THEORY OF PLAY by Neva L. Boyd. Neva Boyd was Viola Spolin's teacher and mentor and she had a huge impact on Spolin's thinking. Boyd developed her theory of play in group and social work in Chicago at Hull House and wrote a very important article on her theory. Viola said of Boyd, "her influence has never left me for a single day." I have annotated the article to show what I think are some of the sources of Spolin's theories.

The Power of Play and the Need for Playing: by Gary Schwartz: This is an article I wrote for Paradigm Magazine of addiction and recovery, relating stories of my work with kids and women playing theater games in therapeutic settings.

Recollections of Viola Spolin by Jeffrey Sweet, author/playwright who wrote "Something Wonderful Right Away" an oral history of the pioneers of the Spolin Theater Games movement which spawned The Compass and Second City. Visit Jeffrey Sweet's website by clicking on his name above.

IMPROVISATION AS A PLAYWRITING TOOL by Jeffrey Sweet

I recently came by portions of a book called Improvisation In Drama , by Anthony Frost & Ralph Yarrow, Macmillan 1990. Some of the book deals with Spolin, Johnstone, and the New York style of Improv verses the Chicago style. This book seems to really understand the differences between the emerging improv styles and Spolin. It is out of print but look for it in the used books market.
Two excerpts in particular... The New York Giants vs. the Chicago Bears a comparison between the improvisation of New York City acting schools and the School of Improvisation founded by Spolin and Sills.
Another excellent excerpt is Chapter 7, Applied Improvisation - A discussion of the Spolin/Johnstone difference. Same book.

Interview- Paul Sills Reflects on Story Theatre

Directing the Metaphoric Mind. An article by Bernard Downs on teaching and learning Spolin techniques.

Other Links

 

Paul Sills, Viola's son, director and creator of Story Theater now has a website and offers week long intensives in the summer at his farm in Wisconsin.

StLouisImprov.com a good site for what's going on in improv in the heartland. Ed Reggi hosts a variety of sites and has a lot going on in St. Louis. Check out edreggi.com too.

 

IMPROVLAND.COM a good site for world improv.

 

Acting teacher Judy Kerr interviews Gary Schwartz from Spotlight Casting Magazine

The New Improv Page, a clearinghouse for information about improvisational theatre.

Northwest Improv Start Page: All things related to improv in the Northwest.

Recommended reading list by Gary Schwartz

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• Flow & Beyond Boredom and Anxiety  - This is what Viola's work is all about.

• Education and the Significance of Life  by Jiddu Krishnamurti (highly recommended) Available at the Krishnamurti Foundation. The best book I have ever read on teaching.

• The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment CD -- by Eckhart Tolle - the state of mind that games produce; a lovely man with great insight.

• The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism -- by Fritjof Capra; Viola Spolin raved about this book to me. I loved it.

• Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art -- by Stephen Nachmanovitch; Paperback - Articulate scholarly explanation of the freedom of improvisation.