You’re on stage, staring out at an audience that fills the seating when your fellow actor spontaneously shifts the audience’s attention towards you. There are no lines and no script: you’re on the spot, to shift the plot of the rest of the play. You’re auditioning for the wonder of Improvalot.

Despite the lack of prior preparation, actors speak highly of the experience. Senior Nora Cozadd says, ”generally [we] have only [had] 1 rehearsal before the show,” which makes each performance even more exciting. Senior Tom Flippin shared a similar idea, stating that “in the past, we’ve sometimes had [just] two or three actors show up at a rehearsal but have made some of the most stunning performances” anyways.

Auditions were more laid-back than the stereotypical casting call. “The word ‘auditions’ scares a lot of people, but in Improvalot auditions are just a chance to show off what kind of emotions or characters you truly excel at,” Flippin stated.  Cozadd agreed, saying “improv is nothing like a regular audition. We all just start playing improv games, laughing, and bonding.”  The magic of the spontaneity of the auditions is what really allows students to bond with each other and be themselves. Drama teacher Beth Orr explained that in regular auditions you just have to “read a script” which is very different than improv shows where everything comes from the actor.

Cozadd, unlike Flippin, has participated in many Menlo shows before this one. Despite the fact that she is more of a veteran, both of them have an equally fun and important role in the show, due to the non-competitive nature of the program. It could be the fact that, according to Cozadd, “We are a crazy fun bunch!” or that, according to Flippin, “in improv theatre, you can act as any number of archetypes” but either way, Menlo’s Improvalot program is certainly a success. Orr also commented that the audition process, “[is] used to see where students are at in their improv skills.” This is used to help students build on the skills they already have, while developing new ones. As a result of this unpredictability, all actors are in the show despite their skills; even though different actors are capable of different things. Orr is excited for the improv show because in these types of shows are “unpredictable and different every night,” and because “we have a whole new crop of people who are extremely talented.”