This class is ideal for medium-to-high experience improvisers looking to sharpen their scenework instincts and make scenes feel less random, less stressful, and far more playable.

Whether you’ve been through Rep City and want a fresh perspective, or you’re aiming to better understand what audition panels are looking for at our annual house team auditions, this elective is designed to level up the way you think about improv.

Taught by TIC Founder and Company Director Adam Kangas, this workshop explores the ideas that finally made improv feel repeatable instead of arbitrary to Adam – transforming scenework from “hoping something funny happens” into a process you can actively recognise, navigate, and enjoy.

Through the lens of Position Play and the Four Scene Types — influential theories developed by legendary improv teacher Miles Stroth, who Del Close famously referred to as his “Warchief” — you’ll learn how strong improvisers quickly identify the engine of a scene and confidently lock into a playable comedic role.

According to Stroth, successful improv scenes generally fall into one or more of four categories:

• Straight vs Absurd
• Alternate Reality
• Character Driven
• Realistic

Each scene type has recognisable patterns, rhythms, and dynamics — and once you learn to spot them, scenework starts to feel dramatically clearer.

Position Play teaches you how to use the opening moments of a scene to:

• Identify which type of scene you’re currently in
• Recognise the comedic dynamics already emerging
• Discover the strongest “position” for your character within that reality

Once you understand your position, the pressure of “trying to be funny” starts to disappear.

Instead of scrambling for ideas, you can simply play the scene with confidence, clarity, and purpose.

A small amount of awareness up top in exchange for several minutes of relaxed, connected, highly playable improv.