The actor and producer of the Dream Machine, a long-form comedy improv show, explains how it all started.
Molly-Rose Treves said: “At first we didn’t mean to make it a comedy show, but the more serious we tried to be, the funnier it got.”
Created alongside four other actors six years ago, the show is heavily inspired by the group’s training in the Vakhtangov Method – famous for its focus on fantastical realism and exaggerated physical movements, and which the group has now adapted into a comical show.
She added: “There’s a lot of overlap with clowning mechanics.”
So what does Russian clowning have to do with comedy improv at the Edinburgh Fringe?
The Dream Machine is a long-form improv show that takes one audience member’s dream and turns it into an hour-long comedic improvised play. It includes three actors, two improvising musicians and a celebrity guest every show (guests include Lorna Rose Treen, Elf Lyons, Ed Jones, Sapphire McIntosh and more) who doesn’t hear the audience member’s dream and must improvise the whole show regardless.
But they are not alone, as the fearless improvisers guide them equipped with their six years of experience. And their Vakhtangov training is central to their unique way of doing this.
As opposed to approaches such as the Stanislavsky method, which focuses heavily on interior thoughts and small movements, the Vakhtangov approach emphasises exaggerated physicality to express inner thoughts and emotions.
Treves said: “It’s very cathartic, letting go of stark naturalism and embracing heightened expression and physical largeness as a route to conveying real things – it suits the dream landscape perfectly.”
The Vakhtangov method’s focus on ‘fantastical realism’ is also an inspiration for long-form improvisation.
Treves added: “It makes you use your active imagination and be extremely flexible.That’s naturally suited to improv where you have to be constantly shifting between ideas and open to new things.”
Three years ago, the show welcomed two musicians (Rita Fernandes on violin and Sam Whitby on cello/piano), who improvise in real time to the actors. It has added another layer to a show that is as much about storytelling as it is comedic.
Treves continued: “Sometimes when you’re improvising you can fall like you’re falling, but having the music means that there’s always a source of inspiration there that can pick you back up. So you can’t really die!”
Violinist, Rita Fernandes, added: “Because the show is as much a theatrical show as it is a comedy show, adding music to it helps deepen the impact of the story we want to tell, instead of just being there for comedic effect and punchlines. While there are laugh out loud moments, there are also moments of genuine, heartfelt storytelling. And the closer the acting and music work together, the more magic those moments are.”
Treves concluded: “Our approach is always to tell a story with just as much care and attention as a “serious” play. And because of that – and not to be too dramatic – I think the experience can on some level even be therapeutic for the person’s whose dream we’re recreating.”
The Dream Machine performs from the 22 to 29 August at the Pleasance Courtyard, Upstairs at 12pm (midday). The Dream Machine | Pleasance Theatre Trust
