Behind the scenes: an interview
with director and playwright
laurie harrop-purser

By Janine Sobeck Knighton, dramaturg

Is There An Actor in the House: A Farcical, Improv, Commedia…Mish Mash is a completely original story from the mind of playwright and director Laurie-Harrop Purser. Learn more about her inspirations, her process, and her challenges in the interview below.

 Janine Sobeck Knighton:Where did the idea for the play come from?

Laurie-Harrop-Purser: This play came from a need for a script.  Originally, we were going to do a script that had a lot of movement – that was largely story-plot, movement, with some music – based.  We found, however, that this script had elements that were not supportive of our BIPOC community. So we needed a different play that met all of these criteria.  We didn’t find the one we wanted so several people told me to do a Commedia piece – lots of movement, had an improv element which is something that I like doing, and had a possibility of a musical element.  I thought that putting Commedia (specifically the archetypal characters), Farce (specifically the physical and verbal comedy), and Improv together would be an interesting challenge and a growth process for the students.  

JSK:What was your process in developing the story?

LHP: So – no script….but some archetypal characters for the Commedia…AND a desire to give a lot of students the experience to work with these genre’s.  I put together an audition with Improv elements,  physical comedy elements, and broad physical character elements. Then, I had someone else cast my show.  She cast of group of 17 students – 3 opted out over the next month and so we ended up with 14 students.

Once I had a cast, the first thing I did was create an outline of the genre’s that I wanted to use:

Act I scene I Farce – set up of why we are doing a show within a show.

Act I Scene II – Commedia Show – which would be an outline of a story with Improv and Musical Improv elements.

Act II – Going back to Farce, with a behind-the-scenes look at what happened backstage during the Commedia show.

Act III – Farce and Commedia combined. 

So then I had to write a show that fit those genre specific scenes, and I created characters from the actor’s themselves – which was incredibly fun!  I worked from what they were good at and also what I wanted them to work on!  

The poster with pictures of all the cast members and their parts that Laurie used for inspiration during the writing process.

JSK: What was one of your favorite characters to write?

LHP: The character Krystal was written for an actress who is so talented but not always as outspoken and loud as I would love to see her be on stage, so I make her character really specific and out there. I loved writing this character.

JSK: What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who wants to create theatre?

LHP: My advice? CAST FEWER PEOPLE!!!  This has been so hard. 

Laurie Harrop-pursers
top 10 tips for improv

One of the major elements of a commedia dell’arte show is improv! This means that there is a general outline of the story, but the actors are making up the dialogue. Our director Laurie Harrop-Purser teaches improve and runs UVU’s Improv Team (You can check them out here!) and here are her top 10 tips for anyone who’d like to give it a try!

1. LISTEN!  Slow down and LISTEN!

2. Yes – And: is what you always hear is the first rule of Improv. Saying YES, is accepting the world of the play that your scene partner gives you. AND is offering something that gives your scene partner something to play with.

3. Remember what a scene needs.  Relationship, where are we, objective, complicating the objective.

4. Play at a real life level – it’s funnier. Goblins and Aliens themselves aren’t funny.  But Goblins who are worried about relationships or bad breath….is funny.

5. Be honest. 

6. Be aware of what your audience sees.  If you walk through a table that is established …your audience sees that. So you have to address it.

7. Start in the middle of a scene…don’t say hi, how are you.  It takes forever to get into a scene that way.  Say, “He proposed to you on the first date?”  Or, “There are 10 of them out there right now!” Or, “I don’t think final exams are necessary.” Start in the middle.

8. Specificity: Don’t just say you are at a restaurant, say the balls from the play pit are all over the floor at this McDonalds in Lehi, Utah.

9. Use your whole body.  Create tasks in the where.

10. Don’t “be funny!” Be present and serve the scene!