NOW SHOWING
Spolin Games
in Seattle

The Autumn of 2002 marks the Seattle debut of THE SPOLIN PLAYERS!

"Improvisation as pure and unpredictable as you're going to find it" - said the LA Times of the Spolin Games Show in LA. The Northwest incarnation is now appearing at the Northwest Actor' Studio Cabaret on the third floor, 1100 N. Pike St. Seattle (corner of Pike and 11th) Sunday Evenings at 7 PM, starting November 3rd - December 8th 2002.

Featuring a well-paced program of unique, unscripted and unrehearsed theater games, based on audience suggestions, THE SPOLIN PLAYERS kick off an evening of ensemble performances.

Inspired by the creative and spiritual influence of the legendary pioneer of improvisation, VIOLA SPOLIN, this company of players is an eclectic mixture of Seattle actors, writers, musicians and directors. 

While individual company members represent disciplines from all across the artistic spectrum including drama, stand-up, mime, circus, voice-overs, writing and directing, the SPOLIN GAMES transform the players into a cohesive, spontaneous, and intuitive unit focused on the buoyancy and magic of the moment.

"What sets this feisty, quick-witted group apart," according to DRAMALOGUE, "is the exuberance, speed, off-the-cuff brilliance and dazzling interaction of its players. Riding perilously close to the edge of chaos they overcome any skepticism with the hilarity and often amazingly adept interplay they bring to their work. The vicarious thrill for the audience is the excitement of being won over by a trapeze act performed without a net by an outstanding ensemble of players."

It was during the 1930's in Chicago that Viola Spolin began creating her celebrated games while conducting theater workshops for immigrant children. Her early experiments eventually spawned an improvisational theater boom in the 1950's which still thrives today.

Such famous companies as Second City, Story Theater, Compass Players, Sills & Company, War Babies, The Groundlings, The Committee, and, literally hundreds of other groups all across North America all owe their birthrights to Viola Spolin's technique, while the drama departments at universities and high schools everywhere include her books in their curricula.

SPOLIN GAMES ON BROADWAY is the latest chapter in a story that began half a century ago. The Spolin Players are proud of their heritage and determined to carry the improvisational torch aloft into the 21st century, so that yet another generation may enjoy spontaneous play, laughter, and a two-drink minimum.