‘If theatre didn’t exist, this would be a good place to start’ - Keith Johnstone

Led by Phelim McDermott, Lee Simpson and Matilda Leyser, Improbable is a theatre company which defies categorisation. We create work on every scale and at the heart of our work is the practice and philosophy of improvisation. We use this to inspire people to create a better world. We work with the understanding that change comes not from one person, group or ideology, but grows from the symbiotic interactions between us. We connect individuals to their sense of agency, grow community, and empower people to dream and create a healthier and more equitable society.

Our practice enables us to make shows like Perfect Show For Rachel, Akhnaten, and My Neighbour Totoro, and to engage with people through workshops and mentoring to offer tools and techniques that empower them in their lives, their creativity, and their communities. We work in partnership with those in science, business, medicine, academia, and education to develop new applications for improvisational processes and we create spaces for local, national, and international communities within the cultural sector and beyond to work on urgent issues. 

Why your support matters

The world is increasingly a place where conversation feels tricky, stuck, or closed off. Improbable holds a space where things stay open, because of our decades of facilitation work. But holding that space requires resources.

To keep our work accessible, to support the artists who take risks with us, and to ensure our community events remain subsidised for those who need them most, we have to find new ways to sustain ourselves. Every year, we must raise over £300,000 beyond our core funding and box office income to keep our practice alive and our doors open to the unexpected.

When you support Improbable, you aren't just funding a production, you are protecting a philosophy. You are ensuring that there is a place for the "yes, and," for the mess, and for the radical act of dreaming together.

Help us sustain and share the practice of improvisation, long into the future.

Become an Improbable Person

Improbable People is a constellation of those who believe that deep listening, dreaming and improvising are vital to the world. Supporting us in this way is a way of connecting with our work and other Improbable People to ensure that this specific, playful way of being in the world continue long into the future.