Keith Johnstone Books
Keith Johnstone (1933–2023) was a British-Canadian playwright, director, and educator known for revolutionizing improvisational theatre. He founded The Theatre Machine in London and later worked with the Royal Court Theatre.
Known for: Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre
Books by Keith Johnstone
Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre
Impro is a seminal work on improvisational theatre by Keith Johnstone, exploring spontaneity, creativity, and the psychology of performance. The book presents exercises and insights that help actors, teachers, and students unlock their natural creativity and overcome inhibitions. It covers key themes such as status, storytelling, masks, and the unconscious, offering a practical and philosophical guide to improvisation as both an art form and a way of thinking.
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Spontaneity
Spontaneity is the heartbeat of creativity, yet it’s the first quality education often drives out of us. In teaching, we reward correctness, not curiosity. By the time students reach my classes, they’ve learned to seek approval rather than discovery. My first task is undoing that conditioning. When ...
From Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre
Status
One of the most illuminating discoveries in my teaching came when I began analyzing everything in terms of status. Every interaction, I realized, is a negotiation of relative status. Whether we’re aware of it or not, we constantly raise or lower ourselves and others through posture, tone, and gestur...
From Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre
About Keith Johnstone
Keith Johnstone (1933–2023) was a British-Canadian playwright, director, and educator known for revolutionizing improvisational theatre. He founded The Theatre Machine in London and later worked with the Royal Court Theatre. Johnstone developed influential improvisation techniques and concepts such ...
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Keith Johnstone (1933–2023) was a British-Canadian playwright, director, and educator known for revolutionizing improvisational theatre. He founded The Theatre Machine in London and later worked with the Royal Court Theatre. Johnstone developed influential improvisation techniques and concepts such ...
Keith Johnstone (1933–2023) was a British-Canadian playwright, director, and educator known for revolutionizing improvisational theatre. He founded The Theatre Machine in London and later worked with the Royal Court Theatre. Johnstone developed influential improvisation techniques and concepts such as 'status transactions' and 'Theatresports', which have shaped modern acting and teaching practices worldwide.
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Keith Johnstone (1933–2023) was a British-Canadian playwright, director, and educator known for revolutionizing improvisational theatre. He founded The Theatre Machine in London and later worked with the Royal Court Theatre.
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