Jane Onojafe
925.931.4855
jonojafe@cityofpleasantonca.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NIGHTMARE: a Creatures of Impulse Production. A totally improvised, live horror show! The Bay Area’s award-winning teen improv troupe celebrates the kick-off of their 6th Season at the Firehouse Arts Center with the fall classic. Audience suggestions drive the characters and stories for this un-scripted theatrical horror fest. Every show different! Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30 at 7:30 p.m. Special Halloween shows Saturday October 31 at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m. (costumes encouraged!). PLEASE NOTE: 9:00 p.m. show recommended for ages 14+.
Free preview show: Tuesday, Oct 27, 7:30 p.m. Firehouse Arts Center, 4444 Railroad Avenue, Pleasanton. General admission tickets: students $5, adults $10. Tickets available at www.firehousearts.org, 925-931-4848, or at the Box Office at the center. Doors open 7:10 p.m. Free parking.
Press Release
Creatures of Impulse Presents: NIGHTMARE
Live Improvised Horror Show by Award-Winning Bay Area Teen Improv Troupe
Pleasanton, Calif. Creatures of Impulse, the Bay Area’s award-winning 28-member teen improv troupe, opens its 6th season at the Firehouse Arts Center with Nightmare: A live improvised horror show. Three unique shows will take place Tuesday (free preview show), Thursday, and Friday, October 27, 29, and 30 at 7:30 p.m. Two special Halloween performances on Saturday, October 31, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m. Costumes encouraged for the Halloween shows. The evening performance on Saturday is recommended for ages 14 and over.
General admission tickets: $5 students, $10 adults. Doors open 7:10 p.m. Tickets at the door, online at www.firehousearts.org, by calling 925-931-4848, and in person at the Box Office, 4444 Railroad Avenue, Pleasanton.
How it works: The teen improvisers in COI rehearse storytelling techniques and how to create characters that the audience can identify with, and will hopefully care about as well. ‘Nightmare’ is considered a long-form, story based improv show. Audience members will be asked for suggestions before the show starts to help inspire the creation of characters and storylines. From this, the cast then develops a fully improvised “play” each night.
This year, Clay Robeson from the Un-Scripted Theater Company, a professional troupe based in San Francisco, was a guest teaching artist brought in to teach advanced improvised horror techniques. Clay has been a long-standing and enthusiastic supporter of Creatures of Impulse.
COI Founder and Director Mark Duncanson notes: “We hope to give audiences another perspective on improv with our long-form narrative performances like Nightmare. Improv isn’t just one-liners designed to go for laughs. We hope to create compelling stories and characters with audience suggestions, and then take them along for the journey.”
He continued: “I love when the performers in Creatures of Impulse can make an audience wince and cover their eyes with space object work. We don’t use props, sets, costume or make-up; just the imagination. One year, two audience members had to leave the theater because they said, ‘… it got too intense!’ They eventually went back in, but I consider that I huge compliment for improvised horror—mission accomplished!”
Vital statistics this season: 28 members ages 14-18; schools represented – Amador, Foothill, Livermore, Cal High, Valley Christian; cities represented – Pleasanton, Livermore, San Ramon.
Who is Creatures of Impulse: Creatures of Impulse is a teen improv troupe sponsored by the City of Pleasanton Parks and Recreation Department. They perform short-form, long-form, narrative, and musical improvisation. COI’s coach Mark Duncanson is himself a recent award-winner, having been honored with the Martin Luther King Legacy Award in 2012.
The Firehouse Arts Center is dedicated to inspiring passion through the arts. The center is comprised of the 227-seat Firehouse Theater, the 2000 square foot Harrington Gallery, classrooms and rehearsal space, the grand atrium lobby, and the famous interior glass bridge. With world-class performing and visual arts, exciting interactive programs for all ages, and a state-of-the-art venue which opened in 2010, we combine the sophistication of the culturally rich Bay Area arts landscape with the hospitality and intimacy of our own home town. The Firehouse Arts Center is located at 4444 Railroad Avenue in downtown Pleasanton. Media: Jane Onojafe, jonojafe@cityofpleasantonca.gov, or 925-931-4855
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