Donald Keith Johnstone (21 February 1933 – 11 March 2023) was a British-Canadian educator and theatre director. A pioneer of improvisational theatre, he was best known for inventing the Impro System, part of which are the Theatresports. He was also an educator, playwright, actor and theatre director. He grew up hating school, finding that it blunted his imagination and made him feel self-conscious and shy. After attending St Luke's College Exeter, he taught at a working-class school in Battersea, London in the early 1950s, before being commissioned to write a play by the Royal Court Theatre in 1956. He subsequently became a play-reader, director and drama teacher there, where he chose to reverse all that his teachers had told him in an attempt to create more spontaneous actors. From 1973 to 1975 he was a professor at Queens University in Kingston Ontario Canada. His play Shot By An Elk was first produced at Queens University. In 1975, Johnstone moved to Calgary, Alberta to teach at the University of Calgary, where he remained until retiring in 1995.

Work

Johnstone developed his training system at the Loose Moose Theatre, which he co-founded in 1977. He retired as artistic director in 1998, but remained involved with the company and continued to work as an educator until 2018, amid a decline in his health.

Johnstone was known for slogans that encapsulated his philosophy of improvisation, and included:

  • "Go onto stage to make relationships. At least you won't be alone."
  • "It's not the offer, but what you do with it."
  • "Allow yourself to see the audience as interesting and attractive."

Selected publications

  • 1979 Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre,
  • 1998 Impro For Storytellers,

Further reading

  • Berney, K.A. (ed.) (1994). Johnstone, Keith, Contemporary British Dramatists, St. James Press, London,
  • Keith Johnstone, in Contemporary Dramatists, 6th ed. St. James Press, 1999.
  • Reddick, Grant (2006). Keith Johnstone, Theatre 100. Calgary: Alberta Playwrights Network

Notes

References

  • Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia entry
  • "Unscripted" , Chris Wiebe, Alberta Views magazine, September 2005.
  • Keith Johnstone's company website