Ready to leave hibernation and reconnect with your fellow humans? Take an improv workshop.
When Kunal Mahajan was living in New York City, there were—unsurprisingly—plenty of opportunities to enjoy live theater. One evening, he found himself in the audience of an improv show—the first he’d ever been to. It was life-changing, and that’s not an exaggeration. At that time, Mahajan was insecure about speaking in front of large audiences and couldn’t imagine being one of the actors on stage.
“I was just so impressed,” he recalls. “Like, who were these people who were able to get up on stage and play these whacky characters with all these different emotions and come up with really unique, creative ideas in front of an audience?”
Mystification turned to inspiration, and he promptly signed up for his first improv class. Time went on, and he performed across New York City, then moved to Pittsburgh and performed there, too. When he moved back to Morgantown, having grown up here, he was determined to share the many benefits of improv with his hometown. Thinking back to himself in grade school, he knows he would have benefited from the confidence boost.
“The beauty of improv is, there’s so many lessons it teaches you, like speaking from your heart and being authentic, and how to connect with people,” he says. “That really translated into a bunch of other areas in my life.”
Mahajan has been hosting improv workshops at the Monongalia Arts Center for about a year now, and he says the ability to let loose and embrace your inner child is priceless in today’s world. Remember playing pretend at recess in elementary school and how much fun it was? That creativity hasn’t left you—it’s still there, waiting for an opportunity to think about something other than emails and bills.
He acknowledges that improv might not seem like everyone’s cup of tea at first, but that’s actually the appeal of it. Participants come from different age groups and professional backgrounds, and most have never taken any kind of acting class. But they all share one goal: to have fun.
“A lot of participants come in and say, ‘I’ve never done anything like this before, I’m a little shy,’” he says. “But then eventually, they’re on stage shouting, and crying, and dancing. A lot of people come into this not realizing that they’re capable of doing these things.”
If you think it’s time to find out what you’re capable of, register for the MAC’s Improv Workshops on February 27 and February 28. Friday’s workshop will explore short-form improv through acting games like “Pet Peeve,” where each person is assigned a pet peeve to bemoan via dramatic monologue. Saturday’s workshop will feature a long-form monoscene, where the group works together to develop a full scene with a setting, characters, and a plotline.
You might not discover your life’s passion like Mahajan did, but he promises you’ll take something valuable from the experience—even if it’s just some authentic belly laughs or sore cheeks from smiling.
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