on stage
Since 1994 Slotnick and Katz have performed an engagingly unique style of improvised theatre going beyond the traditional sketch-comedy applications and into the spontaneous expression of deeper dramatic themes with the goal of making extraordinary connections— between performers, with the audience, and to the collaborative creative potential of a moment.
current work.
Their current improvised exploration takes the form of Marriage in Progress and was performed originally as an open workshop, under the title In the Room (at Lookingglass Theatre), and then premiered at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2022.
Wants and Needs, a prior piece on privilege in North America, developed in Los Angeles and produced in Chicago by the Tony award-winning Lookingglass Theatre Company.
marriage in progress.
Directed by Jim Dennen
Marriage in Progress highlights the tension between the unspoken expectations of marriage and the everyday realities that emerge. Staged so that players explicitly share and struggle for agency and spectatorial attention with (and as) the married characters they create, the pacts of theatre and marriage begin to mimic and reveal each other. Marriage in Progress is an experiment in form and an insightful inquiry into the ways long-lasting relationships grow out of the unintended and the unexpected.
“When Katz and Slotnick take the stage, they do so with absolute honesty, a lack of expectation and an unconditional trust; it’s what makes any relationship soar but in their creative hands it sings the profound. They begin with nothing beyond the premise of an unplanned relationship which will unravel through multi-dimensional characters complete with an intricate history, pattern of communication and behavior that is painfully and hilariously recognizable to all who watch in delight. Heightened levels of the subtlest communications create masterful, complex, hilarious and heartbreaking portraits of the human experience. When the keen concentration and agendaless artists effortlessly live in seamless spontaneity, the audience becomes the ultimate armchair traveller to the most exquisitely realized worlds.”
- Lawrence Grimm, Founding & Board Member, A Red Orchid Theatre + Resident Professor, School of Music, Dance & Theater, University of Michigan
“Their ‘wonderfully energetic and self-effacing style’ is an ‘adventurous and delightful experience,’ ‘hilariously engaging,’ and a ‘surreal success.”
- Chicago Tribune
A multiyear experiment in improvised live performance within the context of—and in tension with—digital life onscreen and virtual reality- during the pandemic.
Virtual Reality Performance .
Adapted for Virtual reality. Directed by Jim Dennen
Virtual theater constructed by Christian Faur
“Marriage: A Work in Progress” was funded in part by a grant from the Denison University Research Foundation.
“There is joy to be derived from watching the gears turn behind two talented performers who are constantly trying to figure out where the other is going and how to react appropriately, which feels much like a real marriage.”
- City Beat
Wants and needs.
Directed by Jim Dennen
Wants and Needs was the first in a series of Improvised Theatre pieces exploring human behavior in that uniquely derided realm called the American Middle Class.
An Improvised Exploration of Life in the Land of Plenty, and the veiled agendas and subconscious desires that motivate so many of our encounters.
“Katz & Slotnick’s seemingly psychic connection allows them to fast-forward through scenarios…seasoned performers flex their muscles.”
-The Daily Scotsman
Entirely improvised promos for “Wants & Needs”, Lookingglass Theatre
Produced by : Philip Smith, Jim Dennen, HMS
Doubles.
bathtub.
Massage.
“For more than 30 years, I’ve had the deep pleasure of watching improvisational genius at play between Joey Slotnick and Lauren Katz.They create from thin air magnificently detailed worlds that contain infinitely complex, richly nuanced characters in action and stories that are both hilarious and profound. As Artistic Director at Lookingglass Theatre Company, I insisted on bringing them, along with director Jim Dennen, to Chicago for a series of late-night performances and workshops, which were both wildly entertaining and highly instructive. Their work together is a completely unique improvisational collaboration, unlike anything I’ve ever seen in Chicago’s many wonderful and storied improv institutions.”
- Andrew White, Former Artistic Director, Lookingglass Theatre Company
“Close friends and collaborators , Mr. Slotnick and Ms. Katz move seamlessly between stage and street.”
- NY Times