Catchphrases, charisma and chaos: NGU theatre’s improv group
Keely Lyons, News and Features Editor
In life, most people try to avoid chaos as much as possible. At NGU theatre’s improvisation group, chaos is a requirement. Required Chaos is bringing laughs and unity to campus one show at a time, and students are leading the charge.
Improvisation is unscripted, in-the-moment acting. It gives actors a chance to put into practice stage principles they know and create new stories at the drop of a hat. Lydia Kytle, senior theatre major and team captain, has been on Required Chaos since her freshman year.
On her first day of class, the theatre was holding auditions for a production and improv on the same day. Kytle didn’t plan on going to either. She said, “I don’t know what improv is. I’m not going to that.” However, Kytle was peer-pressured into going to both auditions and made the cut.
After the initial COVID-19 crisis, live theatre made a comeback, and Kytle was asked to lead Required Chaos she became the leader her sophomore year of school.
When asked how Kytle has improved in improv since her freshman year, Kytle laughed and said, “Well, I know what it is now.” Kytle said she has experienced growth in two ways: as a captain and as an improviser. She has learned more improv games and enhanced her ability to tell stories in the moment, and developed an understanding of her audience, said Kytle.
Before switching her major to theatre, Kytle was an early childhood education major. She said, “[Improv] helped a lot with teaching. It’s helped a lot with coming up with ideas on the fly and knowing that presentational manner, your audience, and being able to get questions and ideas from them.”
This past summer, Kytle had the chance to engage her audience on a mission trip to Costa Rica. She said, “It is a really good resource to use when you are working with groups of kids or if you are bored with friends.” Kytle said improv has improved her performance as an actor and helped her grow in confidence on stage.
Logan Stewart, theatre education major, is the team co-captain for Required Chaos. Together, he and Kytle have regular rehearsals with the team. Stewart says that while rehearsals for improv are counter-intuitive, the rehearsals help guide the team through the games and allow the team to think on the spot.
All majors are welcome to audition for the team and auditions are held once at the beginning of the school year. Kytle said, “We are looking for people who will say, ‘Yes, and…’ What that means, is we are looking for people who won’t shut down a scene. If someone says, ‘No,’ that shuts the scene down. But, if someone says, ‘Yes, and he’s asking for your number…’ Weird example, but it keeps the scene rolling, and we are looking for that.” The team looks for people who are delving into the characters, versus trying to be funny, said Kytle.
