MOMENT! 11th International Improv Festival Vienna 2023

VIENNA IS BACK ON THE INTERNATIONAL IMPROV MAP!

TAG – Theater an der Gumpendorfer Straße in Vienna produces passionate and entertaining contemporary theatre with a special focus on improv theatre and proudly presents MOMENT! 11th INTERNATIONAL IMPROV FESTIVAL VIENNA 2023: Spontaneous, lively and unique entertainment at world class level!

The festival addresses professional improvisation actors and actresses who are curious about exchanging views concerning theoretical and practical experiences. The audience benefits from vivid performances unique in their matchless constellation of improv pros from all over the world meeting at TAG in Vienna.

ARTISTS LINE UP

International Improv Stars:
Gilly Alfeo (DEU)
Matt Baram (CAN)
Hila di Castro (ISR)
Lena Försch (DEU)
Felipe Ortiz (COL)
Dan Seyfried (FRA)
Naomi Snieckus (CAN)

Local Improv Stars:
THE TAG SPORT-VOR-ORT-ALLSTARS

hosted by
Jim Libby

SHOWS

daily shows 7.30 pm

Thursday Oct. 5, 2023

Part 1: THE GRAND OPENING SHOW presented by Jim Libby

Jim Libby is hosting the Grand Opening Show of the Festival which will introduce the MOMENT! 2023 Ensemble.

Life entertains us best.

Let’s face it: life itself tells the most beautiful stories! True life, when given that special frame, is more adventurous, romantic and overwhelming than any fiction or kitsch novel.

In this show the MOMENT! Ensemble presents itself to the audience: Jim Libby interviews the international improv stars to tell a story about their life. The other improvisers associate along this story, reflect, exaggerate and alienate it to create a new and original drama in the truest sense of the word.

Part 2: ENDURE & SURVIVE: THE FIRST PART presented by Dan Seyfried

20 years after the world collapsed because of the cordyceps it became mercyless. Everyone has to endure and survive. Everyone finds his way to do it…Sometimes, light finds its path as well as love, sense of community and maybe…happiness ? But everything is fragile. Darkness is all around. Danger is palpable. Everything can disappear in a second. In this show, you’ll see many scenes in this world and what remains of it. How human is able to adapt in a world like this ? What do they feel when the main things they have to do is endure and survive. You`ll see the first part of this world and the characters enduring and surviving in it, the Second Part will premiere on the last day of the Festival.

Friday Oct. 6, 2023

SINGLED OUT presented by Lena Försch

An improvised play about society’s obsession with coupling up

„Welcome to the Relationship Service Center. We understand that you have been without a partner for a few years now. It is our mission to match as many singles as possible with someone who will truly make them whole. We are delighted that you will now be joining our program. We  promise: You won’t be leaving alone.“ In this show six individuals find themselves in a room together. They have never met before. All that they know of each other is one thing: They’re single. While some of them are eager to finally end their solitary suffering, others are more reluctant  to be matched up. Over the course of the night tension rises, as they challenge each others‘ views on what it means to be single… and wonder if there is a way to be single without being singled out.

An improvised play created by Lena Försch (Mainz) and Carina Odenbreit (Würzburg).

Saturday Oct. 7, 2023

Part 1: CONDUCTOR`S CUT presented by Gilly Alfeo

A Show driven by the force of music. Emotional stories propelled by the huge variety of music styles compete to survive until the end of the night. Several conductors create unforgettable moments including ear worms that will stick. But there’s only one conductor who’s story reaches an end, who’s music will be sung forever.

Part 2: STORIES OF A SMALL TOWN WITHOUT MEMORY  (SCHNITTSTELLE) presented by Felipe Ortiz

A long form in the style of Latin American Magical realism. The main square of a town placed somewhere in a forgotten time is the main set where people gather to bring life to their memories. It’s a full team action format based on the power of the image, everyone is on stage all time creating beautiful and poetic tableaus that will stick in our memories.

Sunday Oct. 8, 2023

LUGARES – ORTE presented by Felipe Ortiz

A detailed description from a member of the audience from a special place or room in their life is the inspiration for this show: childhood room, the grandma’s kitchen, the living room from a friend’s house, etc.… Endless stories will unfold from within this particular space and will allow us to travel through our own memories revisiting our own special places.

Monday Oct. 9, 2023

IMPROMPTU SPLENDOR presented by Naomi Snieckus & Matt Baram

Impromptu Splendor is an improvised play done in the style of a celebrated playwright. This award winning show, Impromptu Splendor was first created by The National Theatre of the World (Matt Baram, Ron Pederson, Naomi Snieckus). It ran as a weekly show in Canada for over three years and has toured internationally to sold out audiences. For the MOMENT! Festival the play will be performed by Naomi Snieckus, Matt Baram and members of the TAG SPORT VOR ORT ALLSTARS.

Tuesday Oct. 10, 2023

Part 1: WOMAN UP! presented by Hila di Castro

Hovering over a public toilet seat while keeping your pants from touching the floor, wearing another pair of underwear over your stockings to keep them from sliding down, being sexually harassed, coughing over your farts to cover the sound, keeping business as usual even while hurting from period pain, allowing someone to help you carry your suitcase up the stairs, feeling your baby kick in your womb… These are only some of our experiences as women in this world. The kind of things women talk about behind closed doors, (if they even talk about them at all…) and the kind of experiences we rarely see on stage. Until now ! In this show everything will be out in the open – all the funny, painful, scary, icky and powerful moments we experience as women, alone and together. How does it feel to be a woman on this planet? Come watch the show!

Part 2: ENDURE & SURVIVE: THE SECOND PART presented by Dan Seyfried

The First Part of this Show premiered on the first day of the Festival. You`ll meet old and new characters and dive back into this world. Don`t worry if you`ve missed the First Part, you`ll get along. 20 years after the world collapsed because of the cordyceps it became mercyless. Everyone has to endure and survive. Everyone finds his way to do it…Sometimes, light finds its path as well as love, sense of community and maybe…happiness ? But everything is fragile. Darkness is all around. Danger is palpable. Everything can disappear in a second. In this show, you’ll see many scenes in this world and what remains of it. How human is able to adapt in a world like this ? What do they feel when the main things they have to do is endure and survive.

WORKSHOPS

3 hrs WORKSHOP for BEGINNERS
3.30 – 6.30 pm
Fees: € 50 / Workshop

SING IT OUT LOUD – MUSIC IN IMPROVISED THEATRE – Fully booked!
with Gilly Alfeo
Thursday Oct. 5, 2023
TAG Rehearsal Room, Gumpendorfer Str. 67/4, 1060 Vienna

Even experienced Players often hesitate to dive fearlessly into an improvised song on stage. But the basics of a successful music performance are learned quickly. This practical overview of the elements of singing and performing music paired with targeted skill training will help to loose the inhibitions to go All-In with voice and body into the world of improvised music.
 

UNPLUG YOUR BRAIN  – Fully booked!
with Dan Seyfried
Friday Oct. 6, 2023
TAG Rehearsal Room, Gumpendorfer Str. 67/4, 1060 Vienna

Our brain is a formiddable machine to create and imagine, but sometimes it’s our own trap, our only barrier and then, we can have the feeling to work on the scene rather to enjoy it…

This workshop aims at unplugging our brains, to explore what our bodies have to suggest. We will train not to be heady or too rational, to allow your scenes to be silly, to accept and play the nonsense. Let your bodies surprise yourself and embrace their strong propositions, to just have fun, play like kids, discover new places, characters and relations, to follow the inspiration and your instinct.
 

OWN THE STAGE –BE PRESENT WITH YOUR PRESENCE – Fully booked!
with Hila di Castro
Saturday Oct. 7, 2023
TAG Rehearsal Room, Gumpendorfer Str. 67/4, 1060 Vienna

Do you feel like you’re moving around too much on stage? Do you not move enough and feel stiff? Have you even felt that you don't know what to do with your body on stage at all? 
Moving onstage is like moving in a force field. Every movement creates something. Every little change affects everything. A strong stage presence is like a magnet for the audience and for your partners. 
Using techniques from acting, Butoh (dance theatre developed in Japan) voice development and more, this workshop strives to give you technical tools and help you get rid of your fears and uncertainties so that you become powerful and comfortable with your stage presence. Once you’re comfortable, you’ll start enjoying yourself and feeling free to play with your diverse skills. 
 

BODY-TELLING  FROM IMAGINATION TO POETRY – Fully booked!
with Felipe Ortiz
Tuesday Oct. 10, 2023
TAG Rehearsal Room, Gumpendorfer Str. 67/4, 1060 Vienna

Explore the endless possibilities of physical impro.Through spontaneity games, impro exercises, and specific movement techniques, you will find how to discover and create imaginary objects and spaces and how to connect your imagination with your body taking advantage of the endless  possibilities your body can give.

In this workshop, the participants will be trained to allow their body to surprise them, taking them to unexpected places and circumstances, how to interact with imaginary spaces and objects, (they can be your best friend but also your worst enemy), this will be an important tool to avoid actor’s blockages and a limitless source of creativity and inspiration.

5 hrs WORKSHOP for ALL LEVELS
1.30 – 6.30 pm
Fees: € 80 / Workshop

THE GENDER LABORATORY – Fully booked!
with Hila di Castro 
Sunday Oct. 8, 2023
TAG Rehearsal Room, Gumpendorfer Str. 67/4, 1060 Vienna

Research shows that an average woman speaks approximately 20,000 words a day, while a man speaks only 7000. 
In fact, this research has been disproved, but how quickly it evokes our stereotypes? Since childhood, we are programmed by society to think of gender in a certain way – boys should wear blue and be powerful, while girls should wear pink and be gentle. As we progress in time, we start breaking these patterns. But they are more profound than we think. 
In order to break them completely, we must know the history of gender roles and challenge ourselves not to take the beliefs we were raised on for granted. This workshop aims to do exactly that. 
We will dive into gender theory and history before challenging ourselves to play the opposite sex on stage without judgment. We will then challenge ourselves to play scenes without ANY gender presumptions at all. 
The laboratory’s goal is to make us see the world through different gender glasses. All genders are invited!

3 hrs WORKSHOP for INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED IMPROVISERS
3.30 – 6.30 pm
Fees: € 50 / Workshop

HOW DO WE TELL OUR STORIES? – Fully booked!
with Matt Baram
Friday Oct. 6, 2023
Rehearsal Room „Cache Cache“, Dürergasse 11, 1060 Vienna

This workshop will explore the ways in which we weave narrative style into our scene work. We’ll discuss examples of plays and touch on theme, stage work, and craft. Then we will get up on our feet and use these new tools as a foundation to help us deliver narrative scenes that burst with form and theatricality.

HOW TO SAVE A SINKING SHIP – Fully booked!
with Lena Försch
Sunday Oct. 8, 2023
TAG Rehearsal Room, Gumpendorfer Str. 67/4, 1060 Vienna

We all know how much fun improv is when the show is going well. Anything seems possible, everyone is having a good time… and our partners have never looked better in their lives! But what about when things get a bit shaky? When communication suddenly becomes a struggle? A moment ago we felt confident and happy, now we find ourselves on a slippery slope of insecurity and doubt that will make us long for the sweet relief of the fading lights. Disconnected from our partners and the audience we wonder: when did things start to go downhill? And how could we have turned them around?

In this workshop we will find ways of staying in good spirits even when we feel like we want to surrender. We will steer our ships into open water and learn how to cope when the waves get higher. By letting go of how we think things „should be“ and fully committing to our scenes we will make them captivating no matter how rough it gets!

5 hrs WORKSHOP for INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED IMPROVISERS
1.30 – 6.30 pm
Fees: € 80 / Workshop

RADICAL IMPROV ACTING – Fully booked!
with Naomi Snieckus
Saturday Oct. 7, 2023
Rehearsal Room „Cache Cache“, Dürergasse 11, 1060 Vienna

Find the joy, not fear in silent moments in improv. How little do we need to say to convey what we are feeling from our heart. This workshop is for improvisers that want to collaborate with their fellow improvisers to find humour in the truth and truth in the humour.

3-day WORKSHOP for ADVANCED IMPROVISERS – Fully booked!
SCHNITTSTELLE – The International Showcase Ensemble

TAG and Felipe Ortiz will cast a group of advanced players who’ll have the possibility to train with Felipe Ortiz during the MOMENT! Festival 2023 and perform STORIES OF A SMALL TOWN WITHOUT MEMORY on stage on Saturday Oct. 7, 2023

This workshop is a journey through the complex world of magical realism exploring different tools that can help you dive into this amazing and powerful universe. From it´s origins till the present. We will explore the basic characteristics, the elements that are part of this world like: time, space, characters, politics and the wonderful nostalgic atmosphere.  what is magical realism in our cultures? How can I improvise In this genre ? What are the most important examples of magical realism in different art expressions?  The answers of this questions are some of the things we want to discover.

Oct. 5 – 7, 2023

Fee: € 190

Training Sessions:
Thursday Oct. 5, 2023, 11.00 am – 3.00 pm
Friday Oct. 6, 2023, 10.00 am – 3.00 pm
Saturday Oct. 7, 2023, 10.00 am – 3.00 pm
TAG Rehearsal Room, Gumpendorfer Str. 67/4, 1060 Vienna