Walk The Tightrope!
WALK THE TIGHTROPE
CREATING AN IMPRO COMPANY
THE BEGINNING OF AN IMPRO THEATRE COMPANY
On the high wire of improvisation challenges is the act of creating and running your own Theatre company. The risks are high and the uncertainty is great.
Let’s look at TIGHTROPE THEATRE from Vancouver Canada and see how it became a magnet that attracts engaged performers and company members and a healthy audience who returns week after week.
As the pandemic was closing the doors of theatres around the world, Ali Froggatt was signing the lease on her first theatre space. Luckily, she escaped through the back door of what could have been the end of the company before the front doors opened to the public. And now, TIGHTROPE THEATRE has become Vancouver’s newest hot spot for Impro entertainment.
Flash forward a few years and the little theatre company at 2343 Main St, Vancouver, BC Canada is home to multiple exciting shows and public classes every week. That’s a pretty good feat for the risky endeavour of creating a theatre company from nothing..
Let’s talk to the mastermind of this Improvisation startup.
If you always say there’s not enough time or money, there will NEVER be enough time or money. Be positive, work to inspire your partner, and celebrate your failures. If you believe it, so will others. Build it and they will come
– ALI FROGGATT
TALKING WITH ALI FROGGATT
-From performing on stage to creating a place for others to play…
Shawn: Tightrope THEATRE! You co founded a theatre from nothing. That’s a pretty big project to take on.
ALI: Everyone will tell you it’s too difficult and impossible to open a Theatre. If you believe them it will be. If you don’t believe them, it will still be difficult but you will unleash limitless possibilities.
Shawn: For you, where did this all begin?
ALI: I started improvising at the Loose Moose when I was 15? 16? I followed Quinn and Mitch (Two very charming young improvisers) because I had a big crush on them. Then I discovered I loved improv way more than I loved boys.
Shawn: Why is that?
ALI: This was a world where I could be ANYTHING! Play any role. Be the writer, director, and actor all at once. As a young actress all you hear is that you must fit a certain mold. And physically I did not fit the mold. I was not an ingenue, even though I longed to be one. On the stage at Loose Moose I could be the ingenue, and the audience believed it!
Shawn: What was your motivation to start an improvisation theatre?
ALI: It’s just something I can’t live without. I was spoiled at the Moose where people were able to show up any given week and perform to a full house of civilians (non performers). I knew I wanted to live in a city that had a film industry and when I moved to Vancouver I realized there was no one doing the kind of improv that I really wanted to do; Keith Johnstone style impro. So I figured I had to create it myself.
Shawn: What was the process that got you from onstage to creating a theatre?
ALI: I found Jeff Gladstone, a Moose alumni who had been working in Vancouver for 20 years. We connected instantly on our artistic approach to impro and our desire to do that work in this city. He came with a million contacts and a community that adored him – so he really made it possible. We made an exceptional pair. My delusional drive, and his plethora of resources. We then added several other eager individuals to the founding team and we WENT FOR IT!… until the global pandemic hit. We signed the lease on our first space on March 1st of 2020.. Great time for theatre…
Shawn: And luckily you escaped that pandemic minefield and emerged on the other side with a different venue. But, how did you get a space in the difficult, expensive, over populated environment of Vancouver?
ALI: Ironically enough the pandemic helped us in expected ways. We had all this time to dream and create, so that’s what we started to do. We also had a wonderful government that provided financial assistance to all those out of work due to the pandemic. So we were able to cover our basics like food and rent, and with our unlimited spare time we began building the organization.
We had incredible help building the theatre. An absolute gem of a human named Aidan Wright – (scream his name from the rooftops he’s a hero!!!) A wonderful actor/improvisor who had construction skills and connections to materials and tools. He also had a lot of free time and WANTED to help us build our theatre. He also got a girlfriend out of it so that’s pretty special – he met his now GF, Afro, during the building process. We built a theatre and a relationship! I have fond memories of spending hours and hours together drilling, painting, building walls, tearing down walls, all while eating pork buns and listening to yacht rock.
Shawn: How did you gather the community? (A tapestry of volunteers, paid staff, multicultural and diverse participants from every social corner of the city).
ALI: That was the easy part. Kevin Costner was right : If you build it, they will come.
Shawn: How did you manage financially?
ALI: Impro Theatre’s are unique because we have many possible revenue streams: shows, bar sales, classes, corporate training. You margin is razor thin but there is a way!
Shawn: How did you cover costs initially?
ALI: Favours. and we owe lots of people favours! I’m ready when anyone wants to cash in 🙂
Shawn: How many improvisers does it take to make an impro theatre?
ALI: Less is more at the beginning I would say. Otherwise your organization will end up like a bad improv scene: too many ideas and not enough listening.
Shawn: Where are you now? Shows? Workshops? Community?
ALI: WE DO IT ALL!!!!!! But now we are actually trying to re-focus and streamline – we got excited by the limitless possibilities but what I really discovered is that if you do everything your work will become general. And we don’t want to be general, we want to be exceptional.
Shawn: What about the mistakes along the way? And what about the future?
ALI: So many mistakes. We wouldn’t be an impro company without them! But you need to live your values. Fail FORWARD. Be careful how you talk about yourself and your business. If you always say there’s not enough time or money, there will NEVER be enough time or money. Be positive, work to inspire your partner, and celebrate your failures. If you believe it, so will others. Build it and they will come.
Shawn: Thanks Ali, and good luck getting that light fixed in that back hallway.
Ali Froggatt – co creator of TIGHTROPE IMPRO THEATRE VANCOUVER, BC
Creating a theatre company is a lot of work.
If you and your gang are looking to create the next Tightrope Theatre, reach out to one of the many companies in the world who have gone before you. Go, visit them. You’ll learn a lot in a short visit and you might find inspiration to walk the dangerous line and create a community that will inspire audiences and improvisers for years to come.
If you find yourself in, near or far away from Vancouver, British Colombia, make plans to visit the gem of the city’s theatres – TIGHTROPE. Contact them if you are interested in what they do and what they could do for you!
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