The Mopco Improv Theatre
Interactive shows and workshops for grades 4-12
Our offerings can be focused on supporting social skills/character education, or on supporting core curricula.
Improv and Character Education
To achieve success, improvisers must master certain key skills. These include
LISTENING
Careful listening, while considering the speaker’s point of view, is critical to good improv. We say that “improv is 90% reception, only 10% broadcast.”
Good listeners are well on the way to becoming great leaders.
SOCIAL SKILLS: Safety, Trust, and Inclusion
Game-based improv training provides a safe environment for practicing teamwork and modeling behaviors that yield respectful collaboration. The games are fun and the stakes are low, so the risk is low as well. But the learning and skill building can be off the charts.
TAKING CREATIVE RISK/ACCEPTING FAILURE
Improvisers “celebrate failure.” Cheerfully accepting that not all efforts succeed frees the individual to access their own natural spontaneity and lessens anxiety about new situations.
THINKING ABOUT SOCIAL NORMS
Improv teaches us to look for the unwritten rules that may have a powerful role in everyone’s behavior, and to question or break those rules if they are impeding the play.
This can help students learn to separate feelings from knee-jerk reactions, for example.
RESPECT FOR OTHERS/COLLABORATION
“Make your partner look good” is a key tenet of improv. Practicing that mindset teaches students the value of respectful collaboration and communication across cultural and group boundaries.
Program: MAKE YOUR PARTNER LOOK GOOD!
Option A: Show Only
$1,500 within 25 miles of Schenectady NY
This funny, interactive lecture demo-style show is part pure improv show and part Character Education lesson. Make Your Partner Look Good! highlights the basic skills kids need to succeed in social interactions. These skills come from the basic improv tenets:
Make your Partner Look Good (They’ll do the same for you!)
Listen! (A great way to make your partner look good!)
Say ‘Yes, And’ (Build with what is in the moment)
Celebrate Failure (Take creative risks!)
Make Your Partner Look Good! presents a gentle but very powerful lesson about creativity, positivity, inclusive behavior, trust, and maintaining a helpful attitude.
Logistical note:
No special lighting is needed. We can work in the auditorium, cafetorium, etc. We’ll work with School A/V staff to assure that we can be heard, supplying our lav mics and a small PA, if necessary, at no charge. In the rare event that success depends on equipment rental beyond our stock, we will provide a written estimate of cost to amend the agreement in advance of the show and bill accordingly.
Option B: Workshop and Show (recommended)
$3,500 within 25 miles of Schenectady NY.
Two Mopco guest artists facilitate 5 (6 is possible) 45 minute workshops teaching games that introduce/reinforce the above concepts and skills.
These workshops are followed by a show for the larger student body that features our professionals and student volunteers chosen from the workshop attendees. The show includes brief debriefs that underscore and help land the learning.
Option C: After School Workshops
Price varies based on frequency, number, and specific goals
A Mopco improviser/trainer can work with groups in after school programs to build the skills and teach the tenets of improv. Workshops can be custom designed. There are many ways to go about this, depending on the goals of the school. Possible structures:
Workshop ending in show
A number of 45 minute-to-one hour length workshops result in a simple demonstration show for families, friends, and support staff.
Presentation is lecture demo style, allowing leader/narrator to reinforce learned concepts.
Family or supporting adult involvement
Care is taken to make this a welcoming, non-shaming experience for all.
During initial meetings, we work with students to identify adults from their community who might become involved in the workshop. Since events such as “Dad’s day” or “Grandparent’s Day” can be fraught for students from nontraditional households, we stress that we want to invite “a few adults who might be fun to include.”
Those listed are then invited to join in on several workshops. We continue to maintain a very casual attitude about what adults show up to avoid possible student embarrassment.
Establish an Improv Club
We believe that improv should be part of all education. In a series of workshops we assist a faculty or staff member who is willing to take on an Improv Club as an ongoing enrichment program.
Curriculum/Standards Related
School Workshops & Shows
The Mopco Improv Theatre
Interactive shows and workshops for grades 4-12
THE MOPCO ADVENTURE HOUR
(CALL TO DISCUSS PRICING AND LOGISTICS)
A nearly bare stage. A small theater company. A trunk full of props and costume fragments. A piece of paper with a title...but no script!
Your students come to the rescue!
An interactive romp that reinforces learning in a content-specific area of your choice in a fun, non-threatening way.
Our MC/facilitator gets lots of student audience input to build the show in real time.
From suggestions or instructions for the improvisers to onstage student involvement as volunteer extras, the audience is fully engaged in creating a unique piece of theatre.
The resulting “fractured fairy tale” story inevitably combines accurate facts and not-so-accurate improvisers’ interpretations. The audience gets to correct the record, and the Mopco Improvisers “learn” the curriculum as they go along.
With The Adventure Hour, your students get to surprise themselves with how much they know, AND have the fun of “teaching” some adult actors!
THEATRESPORTS™ ENTERTAINMENT WITH A POSITIVE SPIN
$2,000 within 25 miles of Schenectady
One of our most popular formats, Theatresports™ is a mock competition with two teams of improvisers plus a referee. The students vote on the “winners” of a series of challenges.
Of course, it’is not really a competition, it’s all about cooperation and collaboration. Though Theatresports is typically billed as a “just for fun” show, we can incorporate specific themes and content. As with other formats, we highlight positive behaviors that are displayed during the show as we perform it, or in Q&A afterwards. If there is a specific theme or aspect of character education that you want to zero in on, we are happy to put a finer point on any show or workshop.
KINDERGARTEN- GRADE 3
An age-appropriate version of The Mopco Adventure Hour is available. Call for discussion of your needs, and we’ll work with you on logistics and pricing
School Workshops & Shows
The Mopco Improv Theatre
USEFUL INFORMATION
● AIE Directory Listing, Artist ID #: The Mop & Bucket Improv Co. # 2229A
● Address: 10 N. Jay St., Schenectady, NY 12305
● Description of service: The Mop & Bucket Improv Co. offers a team-building experience with students by cooperatively creating stories, songs, and scenes. Improv builds students’ ability to collaborate, listening, focus in the moment, embrace creative risk, and build relationships - all skills important to learning and interacting with peers.
● Aligned with NY Arts Standards 1-4; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.1-9; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K-12.1, 3-6; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K-12.1,4-6
WHO WE ARE
The Mopco Improv Theatre is a small venue located in downtown Schenectady NY. The Mopco is part of Mopco, LLC, and home of The Mop & Bucket Co., a Capital Region performance group that has been improvising for 27 years and counting. Mopco.org
Our organizational development wing, Koppett, delivers custom training, executive coaching, team building, and other services to organizations around the world. Eponymous founder Kat Koppett partners with Mopco Artistic Director Michael Burns on the design of our school programs. Koppett.com
Michael Burns is the Artistic Director of the Mopco Improv Theatre. During a career that spans a half century, Michael has taught and trained people of all ages and cultures, using improv as a tool for building skill, fostering communication, and assisting individuals in personal development.
In addition to project based work with numerous Capital Region agencies, schools, and theaters, Michael has 15 years experience teaching theater at The Charlton School, a residential treatment program for adolescent girls. One of Michael’s favorite projects was directing original plays by incarcerated playwrights at Green Correctional Facility. He is the author of First You Sit On The Floor- a Guide To Developing a Youth Theatre (Heinemann, Portsmouth NH 2002)
WHAT DO TEACHERS SAY ABOUT US?
“What a fun performance today! We really appreciate your working with our
students to promote character education for our students through improv. All of
my classes loved the performance.” –Allison Malloy, Brittonkill School
“Thank you for sharing your time and expertise with my Pre-College students again this year. The warmth and insights you share and the thoughtful exercises you lead offer such an engaging foundation to assist the students and staff in building a respectful, welcoming environment together throughout these next five weeks…
–Michelle Paquette-Deuel, M.A. Director, Pre-College Program Skidmore College
The Mop & Bucket Company is an essential piece of my students’ success. These experiences have transformed the ordinary classroom into an extraordinary learning Community.”
–Grace NG, 6th grade teacher, Paige Elementary School
SOME CITATIONS/BACKGROUND INFORMATION
During years of working in education and human services, applying what I learned about improv in theatrical settings, I observed anecdotally that improv was great for kids. Ten years ago, I might have had a hard time coming up with any hard evidence. That has changed. A lot of work is being done, and more and more evidence based results are showing up, regarding improv and education.
(By the way, research is showing that improv is beneficial not only for kids but for teachers– for example this article discusses the use of improvisation in training teachers.)
Drama education and improvisation as a resource of teacher student's creativity
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042811001005 )
But, more to the point, researchers are finding and confirming that improv can improve self esteem, social skills, focus, listening ability…the list goes on. Below are just a few examples.
DeBettignies, B. H., & Goldstein, T. R. (2020). Improvisational theater classes improve self-concept. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 14(4), 451–461. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000260
Results revealed a significant positive effect of improv classes on self-concept, but only for those students who began with a relatively lower level of self-concept. This positive effect of gains in self-concept following improv classes was maintained over time. These findings support claims that educational theater in the form of improvisational classes has a positive effect on self-concept in children, specifically for those children with relatively lower self-concept. Improvement in self-concept via improvisational theater may come from improv’s specific emphasis on cognitive constructs that underpin self-concept, such as working in agreement, spontaneity, commitment, and being present in the moment (e.g., through maintained focus, active listening and observing, eye contact, and emotional presence). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)
Improv experience promotes divergent thinking, uncertainty tolerance, and affective well-being
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1871187119302470
Aims
This paper follows an experimental method from previous research linking improvisation training to improvements in divergent thinking in the laboratory (Lewis & Lovatt, 2013), and includes an additional dependent variable, uncertainty tolerance, which has been broadly implicated in anxiety and depression (McEvoy & Mahoney, 2012).
Method
In two experiments (n = 74, n = 131), participants completed measures of divergent thinking, uncertainty tolerance, and affective well-being before and after engaging in 20 min of improv exercises or a matched control condition including social interactions.
Results
This paper replicates the prior finding that improvisational theater training can improve divergent thinking (e.g., Lewis & Lovatt, 2013; Sowden et al., 2015), and provides new findings that improv can boost positive affect and increase uncertainty tolerance relative to other social interactions.
Conclusions
As a means to enhance psychological health, improvisational theater training offers benefits without the negative stigma and difficulties in access surrounding other therapeutic interventions. These results support its popular use beyond the theater to improve social and personal interactions in a variety of settings (e.g., Tint & Froerer, 2014).
Evaluation of a Theater-Based Youth Violence Prevention Program for Elementary School Children
The present study evaluated the impact of Urban Improv (UI), a theater-based youth violence prevention (YVP) program developed for inner-city youth, on three behavioral and psychological outcome domains: aggressive behaviors, prosocial behaviors, and scholastic attention and engagement. This study compared outcomes for 77 elementary school students in classrooms designated to receive UI with those of 63 students from matched control classrooms. Findings revealed that students who received UI were superior to matched controls on all outcome domains
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J202v05n02_03
There’s a lot more available out there on the web, but I thought the studies referenced above would provide an indication. If you or someone you work with really wants to dive in, here are some more resources:
Adebiyi, A.A., & Adelabu, B.(2013). Improvisation as a tool for developing students’ competence in english language: A study of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria. International Journal of Education and Research, 11(1), 1-14.
Aylett, R., Figueiredo, R., Louchart, S., Dias, J., & Pavia, A. (2006, August). Making it up as you go along – Improvising stories for pedagogical purposes. Presented at Intelligent Virtual Agents, 6th International Conference, Marina Del Rey, CA.
Balachandra, L., Crossan, M., Devin, L., Leary, K., & Patton, B.(2005). Improvisation and teaching negotiation: Developing three essential skills. Negotiation Journal, 21(4), 435-441.
Bayne, H., & Jangha, A.(2016). Utilizing improvisation to teach empathy skills in counselor education. Counselor Education and Supervision, 55(4), 250–262.
Berk, R.A., & Trieber, R.H. “Whose classroom is it, anyway? Improvisation as a teaching tool.” Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 20(3), 29-60.
Bermant, G. (2013). Working with(out) a net: Improvisational theater and enhanced well-being. Frontiers in Psychology, 929(4), 1-3.
Boggs, J., Mickel, A.E., & Holtom, B.C. (2007). Experiential learning through interactive drama: An alternative to student role plays. Journal of Management Education, 31(6), 832-858.
Boudreault, C. (2010). The benefits of using drama in the ESL/EFL classroom. The Internet Journal for Teachers of English as a Second Language, 16(1), http://iteslj.org/Articles/Boudreault-Drama.html.
For More Information, please contact:
Michael Burns
(518-248-7430