With years of theater experience behind her, and a demanding job teaching at the American school in Guadalajara, Rebecca Schaffer finds herself well placed to run a comedy improvisation group on her home patio as often as once a week.
On a recent Tuesday evening, she and 10 paying participants, plus her toddler, babysitter and cat, spent an hour and a half acting in scenes for which Schaffer provided a framework and students the particulars.
The class began with everyone standing in a circle doing warm-up exercises to engage their creativity and flexibility.
“One person makes a sound and gesture, and then we go around the circle with everyone repeating them,” she instructed the group of adults whose roots were in almost as many countries as there were participants, including Ukraine, Italy, England, Canada, the United States, and, of course, Mexico.
Christine, a participant who said she has been attending for years, called the group “a hidden gem.” (Schaffer explained that she does little publicity.) Sandra, on the other hand, said it was her very first try. Schaffer’s upstairs neighbor explained a bit apologetically that this was only her third time. But Schaffer countered with a smile and a bit of reassurance: “There are no mistakes here!”
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