Florida Studio Theatre Will Host the Return of the Sarasota Improv Festival in July

Florida Studio Theatre has announced the return of the annual Sarasota Improv Festival, the premier Festival of its kind in the Southeastern United States. Founded by Rebecca Hopkins in 2009, the Sarasota Improv Festival has become a destination event, drawing thousands of people from across the state of Florida and beyond. The festival is back for its 14th year and will feature over 16 of the top improv troupes from across the country and as far as Chile. The 14th Annual Sarasota Improv Festival will be held on FST’s downtown Sarasota campus Friday, July 12 and Saturday, July 13, 2024. A full Festival schedule is included at the end of this release.

“We are thrilled to be welcoming artists and audiences back to FST for this beloved festival,” said Will Luera, FST’s Director of Improvisation. “This event is so special and distinctive— not just to the Sarasota community, but within the larger improvisational world on a national scale. It’s truly become a destination event. We promise that audience members and Improv fans are going to enjoy a weekend of laughter, creativity, and unforgettable performances.”

Headlining the 14th Annual Sarasota Improv Festival is Impro Theatre, a group that creates completely improvised, full-length plays in the styles of the world’s greatest playwrights, authors, and composers. This will be Impro Theatre’s second time at the Sarasota Improv Festival. Founded as Los Angeles Theatresports in 1988, Impro Theatre has evolved into a critically acclaimed theatre and school.

This marks the seventh year that FST has welcomed artists from around the world to its Improv Festival. Introducing Festival audiences and performers to a wider array of improv styles and approaches has always been a priority to Festival Producer, Rebecca Hopkins, and Festival Organizer, Will Luera. Past Festivals have drawn international talent from Mexico, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Making their festival debut this year is Lospleimovil, an improv group from Chile. Lospleimovil was created in 2000 under the direction of actor and director Claudio Espinoza, along with actress and theater pedagogue Lissette Villegas, with the intention of promoting and researching stage improvisation, a genre that had not been showcased as a final artistic event by any professional theater company in the country until then. Thus, they became the pioneers of improv in Chile.

Returning for the Festival are several fan favorite troupes, including Available Cupholders (Austin, TX, and Los Angeles, CA), Big Bang Improv (Boston, Sarasota, and New York City), Dad’s Garage (Atlanta, GA), Parallelogramophonograph (Austin, TX), North Coast (New York City, NY), and of course, Florida Studio Theatre’s own resident improv team, FST Improv. 

Closing the 14th Annual Sarasota Improv Festival is the famous finale event, All Play, where all 80+ Festival artists squeeze themselves onto FST’s Gompertz stage for a raucous, completely unscripted performance of collaborative fun. A beloved Festival tradition, this showdown of improvisational play turns strangers into teammates and spur-of-the-moment ideas transform into art.

In addition to 26 performances, workshops led by Festival artists from across the country will be held on Saturday, July 13, for those who want to learn from some of improv’s top artists. Workshops will go on sale May 24, 2024.

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