Beyond the game: deepening your improv scenes

. Beyond the Game: Deepening Your Improv Scenes

This intermediate to advanced short course is about stepping beyond games and into strong, character-driven scenes. Through 7 unique sessions—each with its own theme—you’ll refine your ability to create compelling scenes, surprising characters, and emotionally grounded (or delightfully absurd) moments on stage.

Rather than focusing on short-form games, this course invites you to dive into open scenes and exercises that stretch your improv skills. You’ll explore being present, embracing failure, and playing with genre, emotion, and absurdity. Gather tools that will make your scenes more engaging, layered, and fearless.

Who it’s for:
Improvisers with prior experience who want to explore advanced scene techniques, character work, and emotional depth. Not suitable for beginners.

1. Be the Extra and Steal the Show
   Learn how to play supporting roles in scenes with multiple players, use stillness and subtlety to your advantage, and make bold choices—without grabbing the spotlight. 
2. Playing with Genres
   Take your scenes to new stylistic heights. From film noir to soap opera, from Shakespeare to sci-fi—learn how to recognize and play with genre tropes.
3. Learn to Feel: Collecting Emotions
   This session is all about receiving and responding—being affected, not just acting. Through games and open scenes, you’ll explore vulnerability, emotional listening, and how to use feelings to elevate your character and your scene partner.
4. How to Fail Like a Pro
   Learn to let go of the need to be clever or “right” and instead embrace risk, spontaneity, and messiness. We’ll practice being present, getting out of our heads, and turning mistakes into gold.
   5. Stereotypical
   Characters don’t always need to be realistic—sometimes they need to be recognizable. Using stock photos and archetypes as inspiration, you’ll create larger-than-life personas and learn how to play with stereotypes in a self-aware, creative way.
   6. Absurdism
   Let go of logic and dive into the surreal. You’ll learn how to stay grounded in scenes even when the world around your character makes no sense at all.
   7. Drunk Play
   The art of playing “drunk” believably and playfully. A fun lesson, learned at a training acting class.

Teacher Matthijs Meulblok. Matthijs studied Media Studies. He has his own studio in wolvenplein to record podcasts, voice overs, coaching people on voice acting, podcasts, media. He plays in Pure Chocolade, and trains different groups, special workshops. He enjoys teaching special themes and formats.

Location ZIMIHC Wittevrouwen, Bouwstraat 55 Utrecht

Mondays 8 Sep – 20 Oct (we DO have a lesson in autumn holiday). 18:45-20:30. 7 lessons €170 inc 21% VAT

We need a minimum of 8 sign-ups to start this course.

Improv Utrecht offers 1 or 2 funded courses with 20% discount for people with less finances. Send a message to Marieke van Laar.

tickets: improv-utrecht.weticket.io or the blue button