Time & Location

Apr 21, 2024, 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM GMT+5:30

Sanskriti Kendra, Anandagram, Mehrauli-Gurgaon Rd, Anand Gram, Aya Nagar, New Delhi, Delhi 110047, India

About The Event

The Make Em Ups and Kaivalya Plays invite you to

CHAMBER OF IMPROV: IMPROVISING IN THE STYLE OF HARRY POTTER

With James Witt

A 3-hour introduction to the exciting world of genre improv, experienced through the magical world of the boy who lived! This workshop invites you to build characters, brew relationships and weave narratives inspired by the wizarding world of Harry Potter.

A magical invitation to “mischief managed” by one of the UK’s leading improvisation teachers, he who must not be named / (Professor Witt*).

Delve into long-form narratives as you bring brand new Hogwarts legends to life in a safe and silly environment where it’s ok to fail your OWLS as long as you throw yourself into your Defence Against the Dark Arts of Improv class. Learn how to impersonate your favourite characters from books and films, play fantastic beasts and tricksy poltergeists. Find out more about storytelling, how to satirise a much-loved genre without alienating your audience, and learn what archetypal and storytelling basics you need to grasp to make your made-up Potter Fan Fic Potter more. All brought together with James Witt of Hoopla Impro’s trademark fun and freewheeling style. So grab your wands, pay your galleons, brush up on your potions, pack your cloak of invisibility and prepare to enter the Chamber of Improv Secrets.

This workshop is recommended for students, performers, improvisers and literature buffs with some prior experience of improv as well as an interest in the literary universe of Harry Potter. This workshop requires physical mobility, please let us know in advance in case you require additional access support.

(* University of Magic qualifications may not be recognised by Muggles)

The workshop will be held at Sanskriti Kendra in Aya Nagar, South Delhi. Participants can sign up for the workshop for INR 1499 (regular price) or INR 1349 (early bird prices till March 31st). Participants can also sign up to this workshop and three other workshops (Introduction to Musical Improv, Essentials of Acting for Improvisers, Jane Austen Improv) for a combined workshop pass at INR 5999/-. 

About The Facilitator

James Witt is a musical improviser, actor, writer and director who resides in Brighton, UK.  He trained as an actor at the Guildford School of Acting and read English and Drama at the University of Birmingham. He has worked as a full-time theatre practitioner since 2005 and was a founding member of Hoopla Impro’s original house team Music Box. He now directs Dreamweaver Quartet, a dream-based improvised musical. He also has several stage and screen credits to his name - most recently as a Raven Singer in S2 of Pennyworth which was filmed at Warner Brothers Studios in the same lot as the Harry Potter movies.

About The Organizers

About Make Em Ups Theatre Company

'The Make Em Ups' Theatre company proudly present their 5 Star show “Bumper Blyton”. The show has toured extensively across the UK and in arts festivals across Europe and is coming to India for the first time! They are winners of various UK-based theatre and comedy awards, such as the Chortle Award for best live Entertainment show and a Fringe award at the Edinburgh Festival. The company was formed in 2016 by Amy Cooke-Hodgson (founder of Edfringe and Multi-Award-winning West End hit Austentatious) and Jonah Fazel (BAFTA-winning History Bombs) with the aim to create popular and high-quality improvised theatre. The rotating cast is some of the UK's best-known comedy improvisation performers and can also be seen on stage in the West-End hits, ‘Showstoppers The Improvised Musical’, ‘Austentatious’ and the longest-running live comedy show in the UK ‘Newsreview’. Between them, they have won numerous awards for their work, including 2 Oliver Awards, 2 Chortle awards, 1 BAFTA, 2 National Television Society awards and many more!

About Kaivalya Plays

Kaivalya Plays is a performing arts and production company led by Varoon P. Anand as its Artistic Director and Gaurav Singh Nijjer as General Manager. With its roots in the cultural capital of India, New Delhi, the group has created innovative artistic experiences with a focus on community-building. Our artistic training is grounded in improvisational theatre, lying at the intersection of short-form improvisation (for performances and workshop) and applied improvisation (with a focus on mental health, business, education, and training). Our work has been featured in Telegraph, India Today, The Hindu, Indian Express, Financial Express among others.