Putting on a show is hard enough when you have a script, characters and sets. Imagine creating a cohesive theatrical experience twice a week, every week, on the fly, on a bare stage.
That's what BATS Improv does—and has been doing for 30 years. You can catch the company's shows at 8pm every Friday and Saturday at its theater at Fort Mason.
Left to right: Paul Killam, Lisa Rowland, J. Raoul Brody.
"We continue looking to push ourselves and to try new things," said BATS artistic director Kasey Klemm. "One of the things we don’t do with BATS is find a hit show and run it, run it, run it, run it. We’re really looking to use the form of improvisation to create compelling characters and stories and situations, so it’s possible to exceed the experience of written theater.”
Left to right: Paul Killam, Lisa Rowland, John Remak.
BATS—which stands for Bay Area Theatre Sports—grew out of the larger concept of Theatresports, developed by a director out of Alberta, Canada. According to the Wikipedia entry on the topic, "The emphasis is on building characters and on spontaneous, collaborative storytelling. Jokes and gags are seen as disrupting the narrative, and avoiding both collaboration and building a scene."
Front to back: Tim Orr, Dave Dennison.
Every BATS performance is unique, but depending on whether it's a Friday or Saturday night, the format is different. Fridays center on short scenes, based on audience input. "On Friday nights, there’s a lot of variety," Klemm says. "You see a lot of different story styles, a lot of characters, a lot of audience interaction.” The result is "more of a party atmosphere; more raucous than a traditional theater experience.”
On Saturdays, Klemm said, the show is "something that we as BATS really put on the map": long-form improvisation built into a full-length, two-act play. "On Saturday night, the feeling is going to mimic going to a movie or a scripted play," he said. "We go deep into one thing. We set the genres in advance."
In May and June, Saturday's theme is a fast-paced comedy called Service, Please (An Improvised Hotel Farce). "It’s one of our newer shows, and we’re really proud of it," he said. “Farce is hard enough when it’s written, but it takes it up to another level when it's improvised."
Lisa Rowland and John Remak.
Although the actors only put on two shows a week, BATS is a full-time job, because it also offers classes, custom shows and workplace team-building activities. "Everybody is on our staff," Klemm said. "These are professionals. Everybody that we have, by and large, makes their living with improvisation—doing training, teaching classes and performing."
"For most improv groups, the improv is a hobby. That’s not the case with us. It’s our craft."
Left to right: Rafe Chase, Lisa Rowland, Tim Orr.
Anyone can sign up for the BATS School of Improv; classes range from "Improv For Shy People" to more in-depth studio work. Then there's Improv @ Work, in which "companies bring us in to help teams adapt to change, be ready for change, help with communication, team-building,” Klemm said.
BATS also does custom entertainment shows, ranging from performances at tech firms to a couple's 50th wedding anniversary, and offers an educational outreach component.
Left to right: J. Raoul Brody, Diane Rachel, Lisa Rowland, Zoe Galvez.
Tickets for BATS' weekend shows are $20 at the door, $17 for students and seniors, and $18 if you buy tickets online. Although the theater sells beer, wine and snacks, there's no age requirement for attendance. "By and large, our shows would be rated PG-13," Klemm told us, "but sometimes border into R with language."
Left to right: J. Raoul Brody, Kimberly MacLean, Ken Robertson.
Klemm notes BATS is "a great date spot, especially with newer couples. You get a nice gauge on your potential partner’s sense of humor ... you have something cool to talk about the rest of the night."
"We’re in one of the prettiest parts of San Francisco," he added. "It’s a nice little gem to come to."
