Synergy Theater School of Improv
City of Walnut Creek Arts and Rec, 111 N. Wiget Lane, Walnut Creek, CA
About
Synergy Theater School of Improv offers beginning, intermediate, advanced, and master classes in improvisation, along with an improv retreat and advanced-level improv workshops. Participants learn the Three Rules of Improvisation while making up stories, creating characters, and improvising sketches and scenes, including work on improvising a full-length play and exploring specific genres such as improvised slasher films. Classes include working as an ensemble, creating the environment, developing a three-dimensional character, understanding scene structure, and practicing truthful acting.
• Schedule: All class times are listed in USA Pacific Time. Improv I: Beginning Improv and Improv II: Intermediate Improv each run for 8 classes of 1.5 hours, Improv III: Advanced Improv runs for 8 classes of 2 hours, and the Awesome Improv Retreat 2025 offers 12 intensive hours of workshops over a weekend (September 19–21, 2025).
• Price: Improv I: Beginning Improv is $160 for 8 1.5-hour classes. Improv II: Intermediate Improv is $160 for 8 1.5-hour classes. Improv III: Advanced Improv is $210 for 8 2-hour classes. Prices for master classes vary.
Synergy Theater’s School of Improvisation states that it provides world-class training and education in the art of improvisational theater and strives to create theater with wonderful stories, compelling characters, and the vibrant spontaneity of improvisation. The program shares its work by teaching classes through its training academy, bringing innovation to companies and organizations, hosting community improv jams, and providing ongoing theater enrichment programs in local East Bay schools.
Classes are taught by Synergy Theater company members, including Artistic Director Kenn Adams, author of the book How to Improvise a Full-Length Play: The Art of Spontaneous Theater. Kenn Adams is the creator of the improv games Sit, Stand and Kneel and The Family Dinner (also known as Ding/Buzz or Biography), as well as The Story Spine, and he has been performing, directing, and teaching improvisation for almost 30 years after beginning his career in New York City with Freestyle Repertory Theater, the New York home for TheatreSports. Griffen Bier teaches master classes and is associated with Synergy Theater, and the Awesome Improv Retreat workshops are taught by Artistic Director Kenn Adams. The Awesome Improv Retreat 2025 is described as a weekend in the woods with intensive advanced-level workshops, food, lodgings, parties, and improv, and registration for the retreat is capped at 20 participants. The Advanced Improv class includes a culminating free performance for an invited audience on the last day.
Last updated June 20, 2026.
• Schedule: All class times are listed in USA Pacific Time. Improv I: Beginning Improv and Improv II: Intermediate Improv each run for 8 classes of 1.5 hours, Improv III: Advanced Improv runs for 8 classes of 2 hours, and the Awesome Improv Retreat 2025 offers 12 intensive hours of workshops over a weekend (September 19–21, 2025).
• Price: Improv I: Beginning Improv is $160 for 8 1.5-hour classes. Improv II: Intermediate Improv is $160 for 8 1.5-hour classes. Improv III: Advanced Improv is $210 for 8 2-hour classes. Prices for master classes vary.
Synergy Theater’s School of Improvisation states that it provides world-class training and education in the art of improvisational theater and strives to create theater with wonderful stories, compelling characters, and the vibrant spontaneity of improvisation. The program shares its work by teaching classes through its training academy, bringing innovation to companies and organizations, hosting community improv jams, and providing ongoing theater enrichment programs in local East Bay schools.
Classes are taught by Synergy Theater company members, including Artistic Director Kenn Adams, author of the book How to Improvise a Full-Length Play: The Art of Spontaneous Theater. Kenn Adams is the creator of the improv games Sit, Stand and Kneel and The Family Dinner (also known as Ding/Buzz or Biography), as well as The Story Spine, and he has been performing, directing, and teaching improvisation for almost 30 years after beginning his career in New York City with Freestyle Repertory Theater, the New York home for TheatreSports. Griffen Bier teaches master classes and is associated with Synergy Theater, and the Awesome Improv Retreat workshops are taught by Artistic Director Kenn Adams. The Awesome Improv Retreat 2025 is described as a weekend in the woods with intensive advanced-level workshops, food, lodgings, parties, and improv, and registration for the retreat is capped at 20 participants. The Advanced Improv class includes a culminating free performance for an invited audience on the last day.
Last updated June 20, 2026.
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