Julie Stein
Synergy Theater artistic director Kenn Adams wants to change the perception of improv as short gag humor. Adams, who is in his 20th year with the performance group that improvises full-length plays, is a trailblazer in his field. The Martinez resident is an actor, director, playwright, and teacher who invented improv games the Family Dinner (aka Biography or Ding/Buzz) and Sit, Stand and Kneel and wrote How to Improvise a Full-Length Play: The Art of Spontaneous Theater. Synergy’s Stephen King–themed show will run at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek from January 15–25.
“Synergy’s mission is to elevate the art of improvisation so people understand that this is another way of creating theater … that is as rich, entertaining, and legitimate as writing a play.”
—Kenn Adams Q: How did you get into improv?
A: One of my final years of college [in New York City], somebody who worked with an improvisational theater company in Manhattan [began] running workshops during lunch. I started taking them just for fun. It combined the two things I loved most—acting and playwriting—and you got to do them both at the same time. I was just hooked.
Q: How are your shows different than what one might think of as improv?
A: Short-form improvisation is what most people are familiar with, that they’ve seen on television shows like Whose Line Is It Anyway? It’s short scenes, usually based on a suggestion from the audience. Synergy Theater improvises full-length plays. Usually, people go to see a scripted play that starts at the beginning and tells a full story with consistent characters. We improvise according to that model.
Q: How does Synergy pick themes and prepare for its shows?
A: I’m always on the lookout for genres that [are both] marketable and well-known. We do improvised Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes, and television and cinema styles like The Twilight Zone or science fiction like Star Wars. … We don’t [try] to do parody of the material—we really seek to emulate. When we do something like Stephen King, we will read Stephen King books and watch the movies and try to discover what it is that makes his style unique.
Q: Why is the East Bay a great place to produce performance art?
A: The East Bay is so fortunate to have the Lesher Center for the Arts right in the midst of it. To perform in such a beautiful, well-respected, and popular regional arts center is a huge magnet to be here in the East Bay. But also, the people in Synergy Theater all live here, and we love this area. This is where we want to share our art.
Q: What is your ideal day in the East Bay?
A: Anytime I can go somewhere with delicious vegan food, that’s a very happy day for me. One of my favorites is in Concord. There’s a wonderful restaurant called Veggie Today, and whenever we’re looking for a nice night out, that’s where we go.