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22-724: The Compass Players, founded by David Shepherd and Paul Sills , was the first Improvisational Theatre in America. It began July 8, 1955 as a storefront theater at 1152 E. 55th near the University of Chicago campus. They presented improvised plays. Shepherd, in Mark Siska's documentary Compass Cabaret ’55 , about the birth of modern improvisation, stated his reasons for founding the Compass Players, “Theater in New York

44-459: A documentary about the birth of modern theatrical improvisation directed by Mark Siska, also details the career of Shepherd and his contributions to improvisational movement. Besides Shepherd, the interviewees include Bernie Sahlins , Janet Coleman , Jeffrey Sweet , and Compass veterans such as Ed Asner , Suzanne Shepherd , and Sheldon Patinkin . Shepherd died on 17 December 2018, at the age of 94. He received lifetime achievement awards from

66-554: A long one off-Broadway), London and world recognition. Sills left Second City in 1965 to form the Game Theater, where he coached improvisational techniques of his mother, Viola Spolin, in performance, and audience participation was encouraged. His mother and other community friends were partners. The Parents School was co-founded there, with wife Carol Bleackley Sills and others, with a children's curriculum based on group art forms and play. It operated for almost two decades. At

88-558: A registration fee (if their school is not able to cover the cost). The teams compete in regional tournaments, organized and coordinated by regional Canadian Improv Games volunteers. Players perform improvised scenes, fueled by suggestions provided by the audience. Each scene is judged based on a fixed rubric. The winning team from each region proceeds to the National Festival and Tournament held in Ottawa . The National Arts Centre

110-557: A specific number, he would provide a short training session and then introduce you to the phone team, often national participants. In 2010, the documentary David Shepherd: A Lifetime of Improvisational Theatre was completed. It is an oral history detailing Shepherd's career and contributions to improvisational theatre. It was directed by Mike Fly and written by Michael Golding. The documentary includes interviews with past and present associates such as Bernie Sahlins , Suzanne Shepherd , and Janet Coleman . In 2014, Compass Cabaret 55 ,

132-518: Is a major sponsor of the Canadian Improv Games. The National Arts Centre is the site of the National Festival and Ottawa Tournament. The Games were created by Jamie "Willie" Wyllie and Howard Jerome Gomberg, based on Shepherd's and Gomberg's Improvisation Olympics. Shepherd resided near Amherst, Massachusetts. There, he developed a new improvisational format known as Life-Play, which consists of improvised games that can be played over

154-625: The Compass Players , the first improvisational theater in the United States, where he directed Shelley Berman , Mike Nichols and Elaine May . In 1959, Sills, along with partners Howard Alk and Bernie Sahlins , opened a theatre called The Second City where revues developed improvisationally were presented under Sills's direction. With early cast members Alan Arkin , Barbara Harris , Severn Darden , Mina Kolb and Paul Sand , success led to New York (a brief run on Broadway and

176-720: The Playwrights Theatre Club , The Compass Players , the Canadian Improv Games , and the ImprovOlympic . Born in 1924 in New York City to an old money family, Shepherd grew up with left-leaning sensibilities. He was the son of Louise Tracy (Butler) and William Edgar Shepherd, an architect. His paternal grandmother was the sister of socialite Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt . He studied English at Harvard and received an M.A. in

198-543: The Chicago Improv Festival, Second City, and the Canadian Improv Games. Paul Sills Paul Sills (born Paul Silverberg ; November 18, 1927 – June 2, 2008) was an American director and improvisation teacher, and the original director of Chicago 's The Second City . Sills was born Paul Silverberg in Chicago, Illinois, to a family who believed in the teachings of modern-day Judaism. His mother

220-771: The Community Makers in New York City. Assisted by Howard Jerome Gomberg, the organization was created to correct ailing communities by using improvisation as a people’s theatre, and was housed at the Space for Innovative Development, 344 W. 36th Street, New York. In 1972, Shepherd produced the Responsive Scene radio show which aired on WRVR-FM, a public radio station owned and operated by the Riverside Church in New York City. Responsive Scene

242-410: The Compass Players. Initially, scenes were presented only once, but some of the players grew interested in polishing material into finished pieces. For example, Mike Nichols and Elaine May created many of their signature scenes in this manner. Shelley Berman also found that he could create solo routines by showing one half of telephone conversations. The Compass Players also opened its doors at

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264-579: The Crystal Palace in St. Louis, where Theodore J. Flicker , Nichols and May, along with Del Close , codified a further set of principles to guide improvisational players. Sills would co-found The Second City and Shepherd would return to New York City to create and produce a variety of improv forms including his Improvisation Olympics (ImprovOlympic). Nichols and May went on to New York, performing material largely derived from their Compass days. Close

286-649: The Game Theater, he also discovered a new form he called Story Theater , which debuted at 1848 N. Wells Street, during the summer of 1968. That building was the original location of the Second City, which had already moved to its new and current location at 1616 N. Wells St. After Sills finished doing Story Theater there, it was torn down. Story Theatre went on to play at the Yale Repertory Theatre , in Los Angeles and on Broadway, remaining

308-835: The History of Theater at Columbia . Disenchanted with what he perceived as a European dominated theater on the East Coast, Shepherd gravitated to the Midwest. In 1953, Shepherd co-founded the company along with Paul Sills and Eugene Troobnick, of the Playwrights Theatre Club in Chicago . The theatre was noted for its original treatment of classic plays as well as original works. Other members and participants included Elaine May , Sheldon Patinkin , Rolf Forsberg , Mike Nichols , Joyce Piven , Josephine Forsberg , Ed Asner , and Barbara Harris . The Playwright's Theatre Club led to

330-586: The birth of modern improvisation, Shepherd stated his reasons for founding the Compass Players: “Theater in New York was very effete and based on three-act plays and based on verbiage and there was not much action. I wanted to create a theater that would drag people off the street and seat them not in rows but at tables and give them something to drink, which was unheard of in [American] theater.” The Compass eventually opened in St. Louis, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington. In 1971, Shepherd established

352-435: The creation of the Compass Players and later the Second City. In 1955, Shepherd and Paul Sills founded The Compass Players , the forerunner of The Second City . Compass launched the careers of Mike Nichols , Elaine May , Jerry Stiller , Alan Alda , Alan Arkin , Barbara Harris , and Shelley Berman (to name a few) and started a revolution in entertainment. In Mark Siska's documentary Compass Cabaret ’55 , about

374-418: The phone. According to Shepherd, If you called him on a specific number, he would provide a short training session and then introduce you to the phone team, often national participants. Shepherd resided near Amherst, Massachusetts. There, he developed a new improvisational format known as Life-Play, which consists of improvised games that can be played over the phone. According to Shepherd, If you called him on

396-520: Was an hour-long improvised show with professional actors performing from call-in suggestions from their audience of over 40,000 listeners. In 1972 at the Space for Innovative Development, Shepherd and Howard Jerome Gomberg created the Improvisation Olympics, a competitive theatrical sporting event. The event placed competing teams of improvisers on stage in front of a live audience, with performances taped for future replays. The format

418-595: Was featured in Flickers' Broadway musical comedy The Nervous Set , and afterwards developed his long-form improvisation the Harold. (Please note: the following sources were used to cite and authenticate the above list of Compass Players) David Shepherd (producer) David Gwynne Shepherd (10 October 1924 – 17 December 2018) was an American producer , director , and actor noted for his innovative work in improvisational theatre . He founded and/or co-founded

440-515: Was refined by Toronto's Homemade Theatre Company in 1974. In 1981, Shepherd returned to Chicago, producing the Improvisation Olympics and the Jonah Complex with Charna Halpern, who later went on to form i.O. with Del Close. The Canadian Improv Games (CIG) is an education-based format of improvisational theatre for Canadian high schools. To participate in the games, high school students form teams of up to 8 players and are required to pay

462-603: Was teacher and writer Viola Spolin , who authored the first book on improvisation techniques, Improvisation for the Theater . Spolin in turn was the student of play therapy theorist Neva Boyd . In 1948, Sills enrolled in the University of Chicago , where he established himself as a director, co-founding Playwright's Theater Club. There, with fellow actors Edward Asner , Byrne Piven and Zohra Lampert , they blended Spolin's improvisational techniques with established theater training. In 1955, Sills and David Shepherd founded

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484-582: Was very effete and based on three-act plays and based on verbiage and there was not much action,” he said. “I wanted to create a theater that would drag people off the street and seat them not in rows but at tables and give them something to drink, which was unheard of in [American] theater.” Previously, Shepherd and Sills founded Playwrights Theatre Club , along with Eugene Troobnick, and employed improvisational theater forms, named Theater Games , originally created and developed by Sills' mother, Viola Spolin . These same games were employed to develop material for

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