Everyone Can Improvise

EVERYONE CAN IMPROVISE:  Educators Scholarship Fund to bring play into classrooms and communities around the world

How much more certain would knowledge be if it came from and out of the excitement of learning itself? - Viola Spolin

Please support this work through Create Wisconsin, our fiscal receiver.  You can show your support in two ways:

- through this Mightycause page
- Send a check to Create Wisconsin (payable to), Box 1054, Madison, WI 53701-1054. Include a note that the donation is for Everyone Can Improvise.

Hello! My name is Aretha Sills. I live in Sister Bay, Wisconsin  and I teach the theater games of Viola Spolin around the world. Spolin was known as the mother of improvisational theater, and her non-authoritarian, experiential teaching methods have influenced many fields beyond theater, especially education. Teachers use Spolin's theater games in their classrooms because they make learning bone-deep, embodied, and fun.

I'm thrilled that I get to work with so many great teachers, therapists, and social workers who bring the transformational power of play into their classrooms and communities. They help many others with their work. I'm asking for helpers from our community to make it possible for more educators to learn Spolin's incredible methods. 

I've worked with educators who use theater games to help: kids and adults with special needs, caregivers, seniors, refugees, immigrants, ESL and ELL students, incarcerated adults, patients in hospitals, and many others. The educators who come to our workshops teach science, communication, literature, business, art, dance, and many other disciplines using theater games--even theater! See quotes from scholarship recipients below.

I’m also fundraising to bring workshops to players of all ages and abilities to my community of Door County, Wisconsin, and the northeast Wisconsin region. 

Learn more at www.violaspolin.org and through these links: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Newsletter.

Thank you for your gift.

Sincerely, Aretha

Quotes from past recipients of Educators Scholarships:  

The lessons I have learned transcend language, platform and ability, as Viola Spolin's Theater Games allow for each individual to give and receive in their own space and time. Each session is packed with valuable insight and adaptable concepts that can be easily shared in every classroom. -Monica Cruz, Third World Improv, Philippines

While I was familiar with Viola Spolin’s work as a performer, I never considered how her work could impact me as an educator. When I saw that there was a scholarship available I jumped at the chance to find out what it was all about. Not a day goes by that I don’t utilize Theater Games with my students. When a problem arises, we play a game. Simply put, you won’t experience education the same way ever again. -Bill Wilkison, Educator & Entertainer, United States 

The educators scholarship helped me integrate Spolin's work into my groups as a rehabilitation therapist in the state mental hospital system. Theater Games helped with getting clients to connect to themselves and others. These games are something that everyone can truly play! I use these games in my personal life to stay grounded and prevent burnout. These classes helped bring so much joy and relief! It has helped me apply these teachings into things I love the most: fashion as therapy! I use improv to create fashion styles and it has been so much fun to get out of my head and into the space. Theatre has always been healing for me, and I am forever thankful for the educators scholarship to redesign how I want to live my life and help others in an innovative way. If I could teach these games for the rest of my life, I would. They are valuable tools for any professional and personal venture. -LaTianna Williams, Psychotherapist, Fashion Therapist, and Improv Actor, United States