Theater doesn't get any more live than this
Un-Scripted Theater Company creates smart, innovative, and entertaining improvised theater that delights audiences and advances the craft and art of improvisation.
Oct 28 – 30, 2016
This Halloween season, the stars align for 3 nights of improvised horror as the master storytellers of Un-Scripted Theater Company spin audience suggestions into tales of the uncanny and macabre.
Friday, Saturday & Sunday, October 28 – 30
All shows 8pm
Derek Cochran is enjoying his twentieth year performing improvisation in the Bay Area. Throughout those years, he was inspired by and fortunate enough to work with some of the most talented improvisers in the country. He credits his love of long form improvisation to his early instructors, Diane Rachel and Carol Hazenfield, for showing him that improv can go beyond a simple funny game and create a rich tapestry of all kinds of stories. Currently he is proud to work with the Un-Scripted Theater Company ensemble, where they allow him to obey the inscrutable exultation of his soul. He gives thanks to his family, his Treasure Island Pirate dogs, and to all the improvisers who he has worked with, been taught by, and failed spectacularly with; throughout the years.
"Hell is empty and all the devils are here." ~ The Tempest
Peter Chapman is an executive coach by day and improviser by night. He learned about improv at Stanford, which is also where he learned about being queer and his relationship with depression. A nerd at heart, he has directed shows such as Space Trip and Adventure Quest. When he’s not working, he can usually be found somewhere on the California coastline or cooking with a lot of butter.
Susie Sargent discovered and fell in love with improv over 20 years ago and enjoys sharing her passion through training, teaching and performing. She has taught the skills of improvisation to students aged 3 – 80. Susie is an ensemble and staff member of Un-Scripted Theater Company and loves surprising the audience and creating rich and diverse characters. Her ideal evening at home is a dinner party with improvisors who are likely to break into interpretative dance at any moment.
Allison began doing improv in college, with Roadkill Buffet (MIT's premiere—and only—improv group), after which she branched out to perform with Post-Modern Avengers and Improv Boston on the east coast, and with DASH, Hobofish, the Pear Improv Troupe, and Pure Moxie Players in the Bay Area. She has taught improv to management consultants and cybersecurity professionals, both of whom found that it allowed them to invent technical expertise more easily. When not performing, Allison works in cybersecurity research; if you work in security and are interested in performance art, ask her about joining her comedy group Security Theater.
Devika is ecstatic to be in the DASH cast! She has been performing since 2008, initially at Cupertino High School with ComedySportz San Jose's High School League — a team she accidentally auditioned for in the process of supporting a friend and fellow auditioner. The art form brought vitality to her previously timid demeanor and she quickly fell in love with the freedom of creating art out of thin air. Her improv journey continued with D1 Improv at Seattle University and now, as a cast member of DASH. Devika has performed at The Ohlone College High School Theatre Festival, The College Improv Tournament (CIT), The Northwest Convention of Intercollegiate Improv (NCII), and San Francisco's very own Femproviser Fest.
Larissa Kasian has been improvising for almost a decade, having taken classes at BATS, Upright Citizens Brigade and Second City in Los Angeles, and Keith Johnstone in Calgary. She has performed with BATS Improv, An Improv Team Named Desire, Pure Moxie Players, The San Francisco Improv Collective, and Out of Line. She has also appeared in a variety of independent films and voiceover work. This is her fourth show with the Un-Scripted Theater Company.
Merrill Gruver has been performing with the Un-Scripted Theater Company since 2009, and joined the artistic staff in 2011. She studied acting at Brown University and The Neighborhood Playhouse under Sanford Meisner. Merrill is a graduate of BATS improv and performed regularly with The Sunday Players. She is a member of Shakespeare's Stepchild, which performs improvised Shakespeare in Dolores Park. Merrill teaches drama at Peninsula School.