Keith Johnstone - Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre

A selection of books in this series

Clive Barker

THEATRE GAMES

Peter Barkworth

THE COMPLETE ABOUT ACTING

Jean Benedetti

STANISLAVSKI: AN INTRODUCTION

Peter Brook

BETWEEN TWO SILENCES

THERE ARE NO SECRETS

THREADS OF TIME

Tony Coult and Baz Kershaw

ENGINEERS OF THE IMAGINATION

The Welfare State Handbook

Jerzy Grotowski

TOWARDS A POOR THEATRE

Yoshi Oida

AN ACTOR ADRIFT

THE INVISIBLE ACTOR

AN ACTORS TRICKS

Patsy Rodenburg

THE ACTOR SPEAKS

THE RIGHT TO SPEAK

A book for anyone who needs to speak in public

THE NEED FOR WORDS

Voice and the text

SPEAKING SHAKESPEARE

Constantin Stanislavski

AN ACTOR PREPARES

AN ACTORS HANDBOOK

BUILDING A CHARACTER

CREATING A ROLE

MY LIFE IN ART

STANISLAVSKIS LEGACY

Bloomsbury Methuen Drama

An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Imprint previously known as Methuen Drama

www.bloomsbury.com

BLOOMSBURY, METHUEN DRAMA and the Diana logo are

trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

First published in paperback in 1981 by Eyre Methuen Ltd

Reprinted in 1989 by Methuen Drama

Reprinted with a new cover design 2007

Reprinted 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

Originally published in Hardback

by Faber and Faber Ltd in 1979

Copyright 1979, 1981 by Keith Johnstone

Introduction copyright 1979 by Irving Wardle

All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: PB: 978-0-7136-8701-9
ePub ISBN-13: 978-1-3500-1797-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

Series: Performance Books

Impro

Improis the most dynamic, funny, wise, practical and provocative book on theatre craft that I have ever read (James-Roose-Evans).

Keith Johnstones involvement with the theatre began when George Devine and Tony Richardson, artistic directors of the Royal Court Theatre, commissioned a play from him. This was in 1956. A few years later he was himself Associate Artistic Director, working as a play-reader and director, in particular helping to run the Writers Group. The improvisatory techniques and exercises evolved there to foster spontaneity and narrative skills were developed further in the actors studio, then in demonstrations to schools and colleges and ultimately in the founding of a company of performers, called The Theatre Machine.