--Jukka Kajava
The exultant applause at Tampere Theatre (full house) has hardly died when the members of True Fiction Magazine -- six actors, a musician, and a light person - come into the lobby back stage, full of energy and ready to talk about the goals of their improvisation theater.
"We aren't tired now, but we'll drop dead in a few hours," says actor Barbara Scott about their feelings after the wonderful opening night.
The opening night -- and, please note, the world premiere of this particular play. The group, which has been performing in San Francisco for 10 years is proud and for a reason. They have performed more than 6000 world premieres. Every performance is a premiere, the only one of its kind.
"None of our performances are alike. This is one of the most important rules in our work," says actor Reed Kirk Rahlmann about the creative foundation of True Fiction Magazine. "That's what improvisation is about."
Does this mean that the truly hilarious scene of hypnosis has never been done at True Fiction Magazine?
"Never. If you don't believe this, please come and see us tomorrow. It will be totally different."
"We don't want to do the same thing." The members of the group speak as one voice, like a unanimous family. This is also part of the way they work.
True Fiction Magazine came to Tampere both to teach and to perform. For one week the group instructs members of the Finnish improvisation group Stella Polaris, as well as actors from Iceland, Sweden, and Lithuania. The Lithuanians are part of Eimuntas Nekroshius, the group who will perform Hamlet this weekend.
"They are all fantastic people," says Joshua Raoul Brody, the musician. "They are highly professional and intelligent actors."
The members of True Fiction Magazine are also highly professional. All of them have been trained as actors and all have a lot of experience. Why improvise? Why not play, say, Shakespeare?
"Shakespere is always the same," mocks Brody. And, more seriously, "Freedom is very important to us. And it is also important that we can always present the audience with something new, something that has never been seen before."
The group has no stage of its own in San Francisco. The members do, however, rehearse in a studio of their own. How do they rehearse?
"We tell and act out all kinds of stories, although we never actually repeat these in a performance. We also rehearse all kinds of changes and so on. We also look at songs and music as part of a performance."
During the interview the words move effortlessly from mouth to mouth, exactly as they do on stage.
"A good improv actor is a good listener. It requires courage and you must trust your co-actors. You must take risks, and you must be prepared to fail."
I knock on my head.
"And it requires brains," they agree.
They say that improvisation is like a ball game. You must be constantly on the alert. "But the story is the most important thing. You have to be able to follow the person that in a given situation is the most interesting from the point of view of the audience."
True Fiction Magazine tries always in long form performance to somehow conclude what has been started. "But if this doesn't happen, it's not a problem," says Barbara Scott.
What happens after Tampere?
"What do you mean?" they answer, "We're staying in Finland forever!"
All contents (c) 1997, True Fiction Magazine