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Hello
our story
Grand Stretch grew out of need to rediscover play in theatre-making practice — and a long process of figuring out what that practice was actually for...
Our Story
Grand Stretch is an ever-growing community of Team Players who are making things happen with Impro Theatre in Ireland, led by Darren Yorke since 2017.
Today, and for the past year, we're largely divided by pandemic restrictions, but together in spirit! All this time to ourselves has been terribly unadventurous, but it has been a marvellous opportunity reflect on and appreciate The Adventure, so far...
The Adventure, so far
A Man without a Plan
There he is, now. Hailing from Longford, Darren Yorke left home at 17 to earn his BA in Drama & Theatre Studies at Trinity College Dublin, where he did it all and had a ball at DU Players and the Samuel Beckett Theatre from 2009 to 2013. He was figuring out where to focus his energy as an emerging artist when the National Leprechaun Museum offered him a dreamy "day job" as a Storyteller, and he said yes.
The Call to Adventure
Soon after graduating, Darren happened upon a particularly nice boy. His name was Dave Hussey, and he turned out to have travel plans. Four months into their relationship, Dave asked Darren to consider joining him on a Canadian adventure in 2014. Darren didn't quite know how this was going to line up with his pre-fessional aspirations to write, direct, perform in and make music for Irish theatre... But he said yes.
(Incidentally, they're married now, so it turned out to be an excellent call.)
Welcome to Canada
Cut to 2014, a year to the day since they met, Darren is living with Dave in Vancouver. This was by no means "the plan". He knew he'd have to improvise a bit, but he never envisioned a career in it. As chance would have it though, on their first day out, strolling past The Improv Centre, Darren said, wide-eyed, "Wow, I'd love to work there!" So, he applied to join their Box Office team, and Vancouver TheatreSports™ said yes.
Discovering TheatreSports™
Go tobann! It’s a Friday, and Darren is the man behind the glass at the Improv Centre. Less familiar with a Box Office than he may have let on, it had to be his fault the line of people looking for tickets wasn’t getting any shorter — but actually, TheatreSports™ sold out that night… twice! When he stuck his head into the 186 seat theatre, he knew why, and when Jay Ono asked him to consider a job "upstairs", Darren said yes.
Life at the Improv Centre
"Upstairs" was the newly established Improv Comedy Institute, where Darren trained to later play with the VTS ensemble, and held a position on their admin team as ICI & Outreach Co-ordinator, from 2014-2016. Working in cahoots with his improv fairy godmother Margret Nyfors, he was instrumental in the ICI's early success. Before he left, he invited ICI students to shoot this promo video he'd written, and they said yes.
Bringing it Home
Touching down in Dublin with a literal bag of tricks in September ‘16, Darren had a vision for TheatreSports™ in 2017. So, he moved back home with his folks for the rest of the year, working with the children of Kids Paradise Crèche & Montessori in Longford on weekdays and running improv workshops on weekends. When he put the call out to "Come and Play", there was no knowing who, if anyone, would answer it... until they said yes.
Making it Happen
Unlucky for some, Friday the 13th was a great day for the parish in October '17. As chance would have it, the stars (and pals) of Vancouver TheatreSports™ aligned in Dublin for our big night at The Complex, officially launching Grand Stretch ® as Ireland's leading member of the International TheatreSports™ Institute. We asked who was ready for the Irish premiere of TheatreSports™, and they said *loud cheering*
Enter Keith Johnstone
As it happened, a celebrated pioneer of improvisational theatre, the creator of TheatreSports™ and critically acclaimed writer of his own 'Impro' theory announced that he would be teaching in Berlin, aged 85. With no doubt that it would be a worthwhile experience, and yet with no idea how significant his 8 Day Masterclass with Keith Johnstone would turn out to be, in the grand scheme of things, Darren said "YES!"
The "Impro" Effect
Eureka! "Impro" was the discovery we didn't what we didn't even know more than "Light Entertainment". Now, it's about make things happen, making things matter, making things memorable. It's about things that are meaningful, memorable and worthwhile? Keith challenges us to break through the preconceived boundaries of improvisation being a form of "light entertainment", to dig deeper and reach higher with meaningful stories.
Team Players
These are the questions that fuel Darren's travel and training pursuits, as he continues to explore Darren formalised The Impro System that
since his 8 Days working with Keith Johnstone in 2018, defining our "Impro" approach.
These are the questions that fuel Darren's travel and training pursuits, as he continues to explore Darren formalised The Impro System that
defining our "Impro" approach and performance style in The Impro System.
Putting Ourselves Out There
It's all to play for! Scene + Heard turned us loose in the Main Space at Smock Alley for a whole day. We took full advantage of the opportunity to showcase our developing Impro style in three ambitious acts with an Original Production in the morning, a Natural Event in the afternoon and a Ritual Performance in the evening of Sunday 17th February '19. We asked 14 players to take the leap with us, and they said yes!
It's all to Play For!
What a time to be alive! Deep in the woods, we took Body & Soul in stages with four performances on the Love Letter stage. It was our first gig, and we were living for the long weekend.
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