Brighton Showcases 2025 – some thoughts
Last week was showcase week in Brighton, when our students share what they have been doing with an audience of friends, family, and other students. And we have a lot of classes now. Five full nights worth. So, for probably the last time (next term there will be even more), I watched every single minute of every single one. They were joyful, funny and supportive. Just the right kind of weird, and very heartening. If you are reading this, thanks, AndAlso students. I like improv, and I like your improv.
The reason we have showcases at the end of our courses is that improvising in front of an audience turns up the pressure*. You feel like you have to do something, to impress people. That happens naturally, almost biologically, when there’s an audience. Your palms sweat, and you become aware of your body. You wonder if everything you have done all term is nonsense. And if anyone else will get it. But the word showcase is carefully chosen. It is not the final exam or a finished product. It’s a snapshot of where we are and what we are doing, shared with an audience who cares about the people, the process, or both. All you have to do in a showcase is do what you have already been doing. Read that again. I mean it.
All of this means the task of the showcase is the opposite of a marathon. It’s not to bust your gut and leave it all out on the field, but to stay as fluid and responsive to each other as you are in classes. Not to ignore the audience, of course, but to play for them and still stay with your partner. Not to show off, but show up. It’s a delicate balance, and one that takes a while to learn.
Was it all perfect? Of course not. Some scenes laboured, and some moments missed. But that’s fine. In fact, it’s expected. We don’t spend our term polishing. We explore and challenge. Failure and risk are (and always will be) a part of the improv experience at AndAlso. A pretty key part. If everything worked perfectly, that would mean the challenge is not high enough. The challenge of the term is a compliment to our students. Who are some pretty extraordinary people.
And you know what struck me most about the week? As a community, we’re pulling in the same direction. There is a sense of a shared endeavour, tastes which cross over, but are not homogeneous. Playing and questioning, and doing it like they want to. There are enough people in the And Also community now that many have never met. They’re doing their Tuesday thing, unaware of what happens on Thursdays. But together, they (we!) are a sprawling, powerful, connected thing.
That involves trust, which is another word for letting go. Trust in each other, in what you have been doing all term, and also trust in ourselves. And that’s all that we want to see, people doing what they have been doing all term. And that, step by step, piece by piece, building a big thing. At the moment, I don’t have a better word.
Who knows, maybe I will watch the whole lot next term again. It was kind of fun.
*NB if this sounds intimidating, our showcases are not obligatory, nor are they a condition for moving up to the next level. We encourage people to take part, but never insist. And from autumn 2025, we will be offering a relaxed level 1 course for those not wanting to perform at all.