Behind the scenes with The Improverts
A chat with The Improverts producer Eleanor Hall on how the troupe work as a team
At 27 years, the Fringe's longest-running student improv troupe – The Improverts – is older than any of its individual members. And, the current quality cast of Edinburgh University's finest comedy performers look set to follow in the footsteps of other recent graduates – such as Miles Jupp, David Elms and The Penny Dreadfuls – along the comedy path.
It's not just the regular regenerations of those onstage, however, that keeps this group as good as new. Behind the scenes there are a number of instrumental roles – a director, a stage manager and experienced techies – occupied by people who prefer to stay out of the limelight.
Current producer Eleanor Hall says that although she's behind-the-scenes, becoming an Improvert, on or off-stage, means being part of a whole: "With The Improverts the key thing between the players and us is trust. Our techs attend a lot of workshops and we have three or four weekly rehearsals."
It can't be any other way, due to the fast-paced and, to state the obvious, improvised games unfolding during a performance. "We try to make sure we keep it fresh with new games, which can have quite a high pay off in terms of drama and theatrics, but involve a lot of tech."
On tech, we discuss how in others' shows this unsung role can sometimes become a thankless task. There's nothing more awkward than sitting in a Fringe show where the performer's mask has slipped and the audience witness a tantrum aimed at the beleaguered techie, but the nature of improv again helps avoid this. "We encourage a tech to mess with the players a little bit, surprise is part of the performance."
Hall admits their permanent home at Bedlam Theatre helps: "We know our space so well we know we can use, say, a trap door whenever we want. With the Bedlam stage there are a lot of things that are high-value, if you know how to use them."
Still, however slick the current group are, it couldn't happen without them all becoming inspired by comedy. Perhaps that isn't too difficult in Edinburgh, where the comedy world comes for its August pilgrimage, but for Hall, the year-round scene is just as important. "I had a love of comedy throughout university, I lived really close to The Stand and we were always going to Red Raw."
Furthermore, Hall believes there's something of a two-way street between the vibrant comedy scene at Edinburgh University and Red Raw. Current player Jodie Mitchell "consistently puts on a high quality gig – and also Lorna Rose Treen who is fairly new to The Improverts but has a lot of Stand gigs going on." Unlike in other quarters, Hall adds a nice consequence of the university and The Stand feeding into each other: "It's nice because you never get that impression of comedy as an all-boy set in Edinburgh."