Katy Schutte
  • About
  • VIDEO
  • Workshops
  • Corporate
  • The Improviser's Way
  • Contact

The Improviser's Way

A blog for improvisers
subscribe

​Stop Gender-Casting Your Improv Show

11/7/2016

21 Comments

 
PicturePhoto courtesy of Mark Dawson
​I am pretty scared to be publishing this article. I am worried that I am using the wrong terminology, that I will appear naïve, that I will alienate directors and actors that I have implicated and that I will somehow end up gender-casting other people in improv and be a hypocrite.  But - in the spirit of our art form - I’m going to take the chance.  I am willing to be wrong and my best hope is that I can at least help people to start or continue having this conversation.  I hope that in being honest about my opinions, we can have an open discussion about women not just playing women in improv.
​
More and more I hear people say that they have asked the women in their improv show to just play women and the men to just play men.  The reasoning is normally ‘to make it more like theatre’.  In my experience I have only seen men make this decision.

One of the things that I find the most fun and rewarding about being an improviser is that we are not hampered by our casting.  By casting, I mean what people assume about you the moment they look at you.  That is about age, gender, race and also how you dress.  If I go to a casting for a commercial, I’m only ever going to be able to play what I look like.  Right now, I’m 36 with a blonde frizzy bob and 50s cat eye Ray Bans.  I’m a slightly pear-shaped size 10 with a weak chin currently having my teeth put in a straight line.  Recently I have played a School Teacher, a Wife/Mother, the voice in someone’s head, a peasant, a queen, a presenter and an antiques dealer. All of those have been comedy roles because of the quirky girl-next-door comedy face I have.  I won’t be cast as American because of my still-working-on-it teeth, I won’t be cast as male because I’m female and I won’t be cast as ages that are much different than my own.  Unless or until I become a ‘name’ it’s unlikely I’ll be cast outside of my actual physical appearance on screen.  

Perhaps because of my casting, one of the things I adore in improv is that I can play anyone.  I can change my posture and movement to give the impression of a different body, I can play the beauty, the man, the very old, the very young and any race I dare to play without offending anyone. Also, I can play a lamp if I want to, or a concept, or a farm animal.  I once improvised the bridge of a song as a turd floating in a jacuzzi.

When we start calling ‘theatre’ an excuse for casting improv a certain way, it makes me sad.

There is also a terrible lack of diversity in the London improv scene that I hope we can change.  Perhaps someone can speak to that from experience in the same way I can talk about my gender and certainly it’s up to those of us making and casting shows to be inclusive.

I dislike the argument that the audience ‘will not understand’ that a man is playing a woman or a woman is playing a man.  If you are clear with the names you use, the physicality you adopt and so forth the audience will definitely come with you.  The same people that cast shows gender-appropriately, do not often have people play their own age, their own appearance or their own race, so why is gender the one that gets enforced?  Play to the top of your intelligence and don’t patronise the audience.  If they really don’t get the fact that a man is playing a women the first time, it will be an education and the next time around we will all be smarter.

I watched a show recently that was cast with women only playing women and men only playing men.  The director is one of my best chums and is a Feminist.  It is a show that travels forward through history in one tiny spot of land.  As you can imagine, the story contained a lot of incidences of women being repressed throughout civilised culture and the women always played the subordinate, weak roles.  This might have been a Feminist commentary, but sadly, every single female interaction always mentioned men, relationships with men and sex with men.  There was no scene where women were talking exclusively about anything else for more than a line or two.  In the one scene where I did see a woman taking charge of the scene by reframing a witch hunt in favour of the woman, I was sad to see it switched back (and denied) by the man in the scene.  I don’t think that casting choice helped the show and actually made the innate sexism of the ages fall back into the present day. 

As part of Slapdash Festival a few years ago, I took part in a John Hughes improv show that was cast with women only playing women and men only playing men.  The men got to be the bike-riding fun-having college teens and the women got to be the girls obsessed with those men.  Yes, that is honouring the genre, but I really don’t think it would have been a struggle to play across gender and have the audience come with us.  After all, we were all in our 30s and 40s playing teenagers and half of us were Brits playing Americans.

My third example is a corporate job I did recently where we enacted The Dream.  In this short format, you ask for the real life experiences of an audience member and then show them the dream or nightmare that they might have that night.  Before the show there was a debate about who could or should play the audience member.  I argued that any one of us that had an idea or felt the urge should step up to play them or it should fall out organically.  Others (including the other woman in the cast) felt that the audience wouldn’t be able to cope with the fact that a man might be playing a woman, or a woman a man.  I believe that if you use their name in the first instance it’s easy to know who they are and if that’s too hard; they are the protagonist of the story you just heard!  Go figure!  People aren’t stupid.  If they are; educate them. Treat the audience as poets and geniuses.

Please let us educate our audiences and our directors.  Let’s enjoy the full range of make ‘em ups and be able to play whoever and whatever we please. 

In improv, I can play a cat, a sunset or a 5 year old, so why can’t I play a man?

Thanks for reading.

​Katy Schutte is a London-based improviser who plays in Destination the improvised podcast, a whole bunch of live shows including Project2  and The Maydays and teaches improv classes. 

Please also take a look at this article by Stephen Davidson (which came out after I’d written this one, but before I published). Stephen asks why gender should come into it as much as it does. Does everything and everyone we play need to be defined in that way?

I also enjoyed talking to improviser Christine Brooks about this.  She suggests that we should play more women in improv and really work on our characters being rounded, having agency and caring about one-another.  Rather than just playing male archetypal roles, let’s spend the time actively celebrating the diverse roles of women and their representations in art.

21 Comments
Talal K link
11/7/2016 13:43:18

Spot-on.
The best shows I've seen allow the performers to represent anyone they see fit. This frees them up to do what suits the scene best, make commentary on whoever they're playing or how they're perceived and generally do smarter improv.

Because of my ethnicity I seem to one of the few people who do foreign (non-white) accents although I feel like anybody should feel comfortable doing it if that's what the scene requires. As you say, we're not limited to only playing what suits our looks...

I wonder how you feel about improv in podcasting. Do you think it's easier or harder to play other genders and races when only our voices are heard?

Reply
Jennifer O'Sullivan link
11/7/2016 14:26:39

(it's late, I'm tired, and these paragraphs may not seem particularly linear. soz)

I once listened to a dude being interviewed for an improv podcast who, when asked what kind of characters he liked playing best, replied 'Women'. But honestly? 'Woman' isn't a character. Angry Janitor is a character. Excitable maitre-d is a character. Any character can also be a woman, or a man. There's nothing inherent that has to be included in order for us to not go 'Wait, that person played an astronaut, BUT IT WAS A WOMAN AND I AM CONFUSED'.

Because of this, and also having worked extensively with Christine, I agree that we should play more characters as women. Heaps of women. Male characters get so much representation across all performance forms - tv, theatre, film etc - that I want to actively portray as many different kinds of women as I can! Sure, I can play a man, but why do I have to? Can't I play a strong leader who is a woman? Can't I play the hero as a woman? Can't I play the playboy as a playgirl?

The problems you described with genre work and the roles they pigeon holed you/the players into don't seem to be linked to the requirement that men play men and women play women. Most likely, if the women had played men, and vice versa, the exact same narratives would have played out, and your problem would be the same - storylines that replicate and reinforce tired old gender roles. The answer isn't 'Well, let's just let women play men so they can have fun too', it's 'let's remember that in improv, we can do *anything* so let's let our players do anything'. All of them.

At the very least, I expect the people I play with to avoid defaulting to male names every single time they name someone. I hate being robbed of the chance to play a strong female character.

Also I would also suggest that another thing to think about is the history people of privilege have of lampooning those less privileged through theatre - e.g. blackface, yellow face, women not being allowed on stage let alone able to play female characters. I do not encourage or enjoy watching white people play Asian characters, for example, or to put on a Maori accent, or for a man to play a woman in a stereotypical, boob grabbing, oddly ditzy or bitchy way. There's way too much going on with power dynamics for that to be an okay thing. Until we have all that straightened out, I'm much more comfortable with playing people who look like me, and bringing people who don't into my team and improv world.

Thus ends my very sleepy ramble. THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS I LOVE THIS CONVERSATION

Reply
Katy
11/7/2016 14:44:55

Hi Jennifer,
Thanks so much for replying! I agree with you and was so grateful for the insight from Christine. I hope there's a world where I can try a happy medium of both playing strong women and playing dudes when either serves the show best. I think genre improv is where most of this happens. And yes, it's all about CHOICE. I want to be able to do what I want.

Reply
Lisa
3/9/2024 18:08:07

Got rid of Hsv,,,,,,,,,,,

[email protected]

✨Win Ex back..
✨TB
✨Erectile Dysfunction
✨Dementia
✨Parkinson's
✨Infertility
✨Prostate Enlargement
✨HPV
✨Fibroids/Cysts
✨Epilepsy
✨Hepatitis

Jill Bernard
11/7/2016 15:35:35

I agree. Also, you can do history that is better than history and John Hughes that is better than John Hughes. If being a woman is something unsavory to play, there's something else to fix.

Reply
Great read.
11/7/2016 20:04:39

Hi Katy!

I had no idea that gender-casting was a thing, and it seems absurd. Thanks for sharing your experience, and I will challenge this if I come across it.

If someone tried to cast me based on my race or sexuality, I would be outraged. In improv scenes if I feel that a move was racially insensitive, I try to make the player feel proportionally uncomfortable within the parameters of the scene because that's only fair in my opinion.

In London, it can be frustrating. The city is 40% non-white, but there seems to be very few non-white improvisers. A good thing, however, is that the very few are overwhelmingly very good. It's nice to have role models.

I find speaking about identity challenging but important, thank you for doing so!

Reply
Rob Egginton
11/7/2016 20:35:21

With you on this, and as usual I think it comes down to the fear principal - though if a show aims for the performance to play close to themselves then it's almost the default, isn't it?

I can see the temptation when creating genre improvised theatre to use similar casting to remove one barier from the audience seeing it as traditional theatre, but as improv will never make it all the way there, and neither should it, we get to choose what elements we throw out. We've thrown out the script, which is pretty radical, so why not drop the gender casting?

It's very much a stepping-stone exercise, but performing a few explicitly gender swapped shows would probably help performers and audiences. The nice thing about doing it in both directions is that the stereotypes would probably be exposed quickly. I would hope that this would mean men would see the male stereotypes played out and vice versa but I suppose this could backfire.

Reply
Peter Nordstrand link
11/7/2016 23:43:12

I agree wholeheartedly with your main sentiment.

I’ve noticed a special case, though, which may relate to Christine Brooks’ point. I came to notice it when teaching improv for beginners.

People tend to play the gender with which they identify, with one glaring exception. Women playing police officers, doctors, and other traditionally male professions almost always play them as men, both by their own choice and when given a gender identity by their scene partner.

Also, men almost never assume the roles of nurses or stewardesses.

Reply
Jacqueline
12/7/2016 16:39:31

Hi Katy,
Really important discussion to have, whether comfortable or not, especially with a UK improv growing as quickly as it is.
My thinking has been faulty on this issue I realise now I examine it. I was not as confident at playing male roles because I believed there was something fundamentally different between a male and female physicality . This is of course nonsense - physicalities follow archetypes and character much more than gender, colour, creed etc.
On the occasions when I've felt constrained to play female roles, it has almost always been as a result of some question left open about who I am and/or my relationship to my scene partner. What I've found is I can counter this by getting really specific early on (e.g. I'm not the wife of this rock star, I'm his (male) drummer).
Final thought - audiences are cleverer than improvisers when performing. Always. They can cope with you sincerely playing other than your gender. In fact, they may love you for it. Which is why we should ALL do it more often.

Reply
Phil
21/7/2016 22:54:42

In general I agree. Play whatever character you want on stage. Do it well and non-offensively, and I'll enjoy watching you. However, I think it's slightly more complex. Audiences aren’t blind to gender. They can though ignore it in the right circumstances.

"Murder She Wrote" by Degrees of Error has their performers in Agatha Christie-style costumes at the start. That clearly establishes many things about the characters those performers will play, including but not limited to their gender. Relationship-inspired twoprov shows such as by Tara DeFrancisco and Rance Risotto, and Eric and Aden Nepom (neither of which have costume) are another example. In these shows, essentially, the character is being partly identified ‘before the improv starts’. Now of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that people have to play their own gender. My 'Phil Lunn Is...' show is a regularly obvious counterpoint to that. However, should we have a costumed Agatha Christie show with a woman playing he Lord of the Manor, or a show where Tara plays the guy in a heterosexual relationship, then that isn’t because the performers are in the moment and responding to what inspires them. Instead, those would be deliberate dramatic choices and we should expect them to draw attention. If the audience don't buy into the decision, if it distracts rather than adds to the show, then it's to the detriment of the performance.

In the vast majority of improv, the audience understand that the performers are making stuff up as they go along. And if a male performer has an idea for a female character to enter the stage, then I believe most audiences can watch that male performer play that female character and it won’t feel like an extra layer on top of the show. Just as I can watch a man play a duck, or a woman play a squirrel. But if a show is called “1930s New York Mafia Dons” and it’s played all by women, then that’s not a neutral choice. The audience may enjoy it, and they may enjoy it differently depending on how ‘truthfully’ it is played, but there will be an additional layer on top of the show.

So basically, I agree for genuinely open scenes and formats that we should do whatever we want without worrying about it. But where the choice is more deliberate, we should acknowledge that it will be noticed by the audience, for better or for worse.

Reply
Phil
21/7/2016 23:03:02

Apologies to Rance Rizzutto should he read this, and notice that my AutoCorrect has renamed him to a rice dish.

Reply
April
5/8/2016 15:17:32

I totally agree with you. I've never experienced gender casting and am shocked and dismayed to hear about it. That would take away a big chunk of the fun of improvising.

Reply
Frank
14/10/2019 19:33:42

Hi,
REading some latest things on FB, i am very confused. As a white man, i have never played other ethnics, but sometimes i do play a woman. I always tend to do dramatic improv and never go for obvioys laughs, nor do stereotyping. Then again, many people very upset when you pl

Reply
Frank
14/10/2019 19:38:05

Continue message -----

... when you play something not like yoy, another race, gender, etc.. because you can imposible know how to properly do that

So i am very confused if I can still play a woman as a man, or anyone else apart from my own ethnics, religion, ...

All the best

Reply
Jason Bennett
27/10/2022 22:04:03

I really want to thank Dr Emu for saving my marriage. My wife really treated me badly and left home for almost 3 month this got me sick and confused. Then I told my friend about how my wife has changed towards me. Then she told me to contact Dr Emu that he will help me bring back my wife and change her back to a good woman. I never believed in all this but I gave it a try. Dr Emu casted a spell of return of love on her, and my wife came back home for forgiveness and today we are happy again. If you are going through any relationship stress or you want back your Ex or Divorce husband you can contact his whatsapp +2347012841542 or email [email protected]
Https://web.facebook.com/Emu-Temple-104891335203341

Reply
Manuel Franco
26/5/2023 10:57:26

I just want to say Thank You to everyone who supported me through the years. My name is Manuel Franco, New Berlin, Wisconsin. My story of how I won the Powerball lottery of $768.4M is a bit of a tale. I have been playing Powerball tickets for 6 years now since I turned 18. I bought my first ticket on my 18 birthday. I was feeling very lucky that day because I had contacted Dr. Odunga Michael to help me with the winning Powerball numbers. I really had that great great feeling that I looked at the camera wanting to wink at it. I only did a tiny part of it and trusted him. He gave me the numbers after I played a couple other tickets along with it for $10. I checked my ticket after the winnings came online and saw the numbers were correct including the Power play. I screamed for about 10 minutes because it felt like a dream. I had won $768.4M. You can check my winning testimony with the lottery officials just with my name search. Thank you Dr Odunga. Well, his email is [email protected] and you can also call or Whats-app him at +2348167159012 so you guys can contact him

Reply
Stephanie Sally
30/8/2023 09:39:06

Hello everyone, I am from Wembley, Britain. I want to write this testimony to tell others and thank Dr. Odunga for what he has done for me. The first 12 years of my marriage I had 5 miscarriages and I was called all sorts of names by my mother-in-law and this made my marriage life very hectic and a burden of sorrow. I contacted Dr. Odunga for help and I will say that he is a very strong and honest man and he indeed helped me solve my problem. I saw his email in a testimony and I contacted him, little did I know it would be the end of all my problems. After 2 days of contact, I received a fertility herb and he told me to use it. The herb worked and my husband even loved me more and bought me expensive things. One afternoon, I went to a nearby hospital and came back home with the positive result of my pregnancy and after 9 months I gave birth to a baby boy. Ever since I contacted Dr. Odunga, my story has been different. I have 3 children at present and I am very happy in my marriage. Please, contact him at [email protected] OR Whats App him +2348167159012 to help you too

Reply
Sarah Love
21/1/2024 09:46:12


Hello, My name is Sarah Love Tover. I live in Dover, Delaware. My boyfriend Juan Tover and I have been dating for the past 4 yrs we were to get married in September of this year but it never happened..he constantly messes around with his ex's and other females every time he got caught he apologized and me to forgive him and I keep taking him back because I'm truly in love with this man but after a while he started messing around again...what can I do to make this man to love me and stop the messing around so we could get married and start our family? I went online and saw various testimonies of how people got their ex back but one testimony of Dr Odunga helped me find the right solution and I am very happy I contacted Dr. Odunga regarding my problem. My boyfriend is now my HUSBAND. We got married 2 weeks ago in United Church in Dover. My problem was solved. I am extremely happy to put his email [email protected] to anyone out here looking to solve his/her relationship problem. You can also Whats-App him with his mobile number +2348167159012

Reply
SHAW fred
23/6/2024 23:39:40

I never thought i could smile and be in a happy marriage again if not for the help of DR Moses . I got the doctors Email and i emailed him, he got back to me with some encouraging words, he got me some herbs cream which i use for just 8 days and i began to feel the male enhancement , and without surgery. This went on for a little period of about 10 days and to my surprise my wife keeps screaming that she love my big dick now. Now my wife no longer cheat on me, and my male enhancement is now about 10.5 inches long on erection and off course very large round. And now my wife uses breasts, hips and bums enlargement. I and my wife are very happy for the help rendered to me by DR Moses HERBS, and i want to say a big thanks to Doctor for the help. you can call/whats-app him directly on +2349060529305
website:https://bubaherbalmiraclem.wixsite.com/website
Facebook page ;https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559577240930


DOCTOR Moses Buba CAN AS WELL HELP THE FOLLOWING PROBLEMS
1. HIV/AIDS SPELL
2. HERPES SPELL
3. CANCER SPELL
4 IF YOU WANT YOUR EX LOVER BACK SPELL
5 IF YOU NEED A BABY SPELLhim to solve
6 LOW SPERM COUNT SPELL
get all your problem solve. No problem is too big for him to solve.

Reply
william wirtz
17/7/2024 22:49:44

I recommend you to get your herbal medicine through Herbal Miracle Medicine . He cured me from my herpes outbreak and now I am free . All thanks for your care and giving me my life back . If you are suffering from any illness you can get your medication from Doc Moses Buba on his .
email him on ( [email protected] )
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559577240930
website:https://bubaherbalmiraclem.wixsite.com/website

Reply
obodubu monday
18/7/2024 16:10:00

Dr. Obodubu Monday is recognised all over the world of marine kingdom, As one of the top fortunate and most powerful spell casters doctor of charms casts from the beginning of his ancestors ship until now Dr. Obodubu Monday lives strong among all other spell casters, there have never been any form of impossibility beyond the control of Dr. Obodubu Monday it doesn’t matter the distance of the person with the problems or situation, all you have to do is believe in the spell casting Dr. Obodubu Monday cast that works, he always warns never to get his charms cast if you do not believe or unable to follow his instruction. it is the assignment of the native doctor Dr. Obodubu Monday to offer services to those in need of spiritual assistance not minding the gravity of your situations or distance as long as water, sea, ocean, lake, river, sand, etc. are near you, then your problems of life would be controlled under your foot. if you need any spiritual help on any of these WhatsApp Doctor Obodubu on : +234 705 993 7909

Get Your Love Back

Fruit Of The Womb

Fibroid

Business Boom

Financial Breakthrough

Get Rich Without Ritual

Do As I Say

Bad Dream

Promise And Fail

Epilepsy

Land/Court Case

Mental Disorder

Political Appointment

Visa Approval

Cancer

Examination Success

Spend And Get Back

Good Luck

Natural Neath

Hypertension

Stroke

Sickle cell

Impotency

Win Court case

Promotion At Work

Commanding Tone

Protection Ring

Marriage Success

Love Ring

Favour Ring

Recover Lost Glory

Spiritual Power For Men Of God

Travel Success Ring

Job Success

lottery/ win

And Many, More

make haste to Dr Monday on WhatsApp +234 705 993 7909 for spiritual problem today and you will surely get solution to all your predicament

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Buy the Book!

    Picture
    Enjoy my blog? Fancy buying me a cuppa to celebrate?

    RSS Feed

    There are many blogs! Search here for unlisted topics or contact me. 

    Author

    Katy Schutte is a London-based improviser who teaches improv classes and performs shows globally. 

    Recent Posts

    widget @ surfing-waves.com
  • About
  • VIDEO
  • Workshops
  • Corporate
  • The Improviser's Way
  • Contact