This improviser is designing a theater he’ll perform in

“When are we going to have a space of our own?”

That’s the question Mark Chalfant, the artistic and executive director of Washington Improv Theater (WIT), says his theater’s community has been asking for decades. Since it opened in 1998, WIT has given residents of the Washington, D.C., area access to improv comedy as a social and creative outlet, but the nonprofit theater has never had a permanent space, instead relying on temporary arrangements with venues across the region to host its shows and classes.

“We’ve always been in these secondary spaces–our very first venue was a church with churchy furniture and churchy paintings,” says Chalfant, describing the frequent mismatches between the frenetic creativity of improv and the sterile or somber settings in which WIT has operated. That nomadic era is coming to an end, though, as the theater is now designing and building a long-term venue for itself in D.C.’s NoMa neighborhood. Fittingly, one of WIT’s performers, D. Matthew Alexander, AIA, is also the architect behind its new home.

The founder of DMArchitects and a former board member at WIT, Alexander has completed WIT’s education curriculum and was recently on the cast of the featured production TableTalk. Regarding the new space, he says he can already see his fellow improvisers “performing in the areas as we draw it up. … Like, I know [a particularly energetic performer] is going to want to jump on top of something, so we better make sure it’s designed to hold a person, even if it’s not supposed to.”

After WIT selected Alexander as the project’s architect, he resigned from the board (to avoid conflicts of interest) and began joining Chalfant on site visits to help select a venue. That process culminated in WIT choosing its home-to-be in NoMa.

During those site visits, Alexander brought both an architect’s expertise and an improviser’s perspective. “Because Matt’s an improviser, he’s been a student, he’s been a board member … there has been so much we haven’t even had to say out loud,” says Chalfant.

Alexander adds, “One incredible advantage of Mark and I going together and looking at these spaces is there’s a shorthand language of improv.” For example, he says both he and Chalfant “understand what it’s like going from the green room to the stage” and how different ceiling heights affect performers.

Unique needs for a unique art form

Alexander’s knowledge is particularly useful because of improv’s idiosyncratic venue requirements. WIT shows involve guided audience participation at the start of each set, which generates ideas for the improvisers, who go on to create a spontaneous comedy show consisting of unscripted, unpredictable scenes.

Optimally, an improv theater will have a stage big enough for large casts: Some shows have 10 or more performers onstage at once, often with rapid, chaotic movement. However, selecting a cavernous performance hall is an overcorrection because, as Chalfant puts it, improv is “raw and human,” relying on performers’ connections with everyone in the room. Distancing audiences from performers weakens those connections.

Versatility is important for an improv stage, too, since different productions have varied stage setups. For instance, past WIT productions have featured risers, a bandstand, and, in one notable instance, a talking robot. “The challenge is having some flexibility,” Alexander says, but not so much that it “feels like an empty conference room.” The need for flexibility extends to offstage spaces like bathrooms, which, during busy events like WIT’s annual Improvapalooza festival, become “makeshift dressing rooms,” per Chalfant.

WIT also needed classroom space for its classes, in which students learn how to perform improv, often while forming close bonds with classmates and the larger WIT community. Like Alexander, most of WIT’s performers and teachers started their improv journeys in its education program, with the rest having taken classes elsewhere.

To further boost community-building, it’s helpful for improv theaters to have a dedicated space in which people can socialize. During WIT’s rotations through temporary venues, Alexander says the community has missed “the ability to talk with your friends that you made in class and … start to create bonds.”

Finding a space with a flexible performance hall, ample classrooms, and somewhere to socialize would be hard in any city. It was especially challenging for WIT in D.C., one of the country’s most expensive real estate markets.

A 10-year-plus search

WIT’s search for a long-term space began over a decade ago, following years of roaming between churches, community centers, and other settings. COVID interrupted WIT’s first attempt at finding a space (as well as Alexander’s time as a student in WIT’s education program, which he eventually continued on Zoom while in-person classes paused due to the pandemic). The search resumed on the other side of the pandemic, with Alexander then joining as the project’s architect.

During site visits, Alexander says, “We would go in, and my first thoughts were as an architect: OK, life safety, where are the exits? Where are we going to put the restrooms?” But as each visit progressed, he would shift into performer mode, asking himself questions like, “Is there a big enough space in here for even a small performance? What’s the column spacing?”

After ruling out many sites due to issues with fit, finances, and landlords skeptical of hosting an improv theater, Chalfant and Alexander felt drawn to the NoMa building. They found a warm reception from the landlord’s representative and a two-level space ready to meet an improv theater’s social, educational, and performance needs. WIT signed a 10-year lease with up to 20 years in renewal options, then began designing the space under Alexander’s direction.

A look at the space

On the space’s upper level, in the main space for shows, there will be 110 seats around a flat stage. The stage’s baseline setup is 21 feet wide by 15 feet deep, and because of the theater’s flexible stage-side seating, the stage can shrink to add chairs for at-capacity crowds or grow to handle supersize casts. Alexander calls the arrangement “cozy without being cramped,” allowing performers to move freely while benefiting from close proximity to the audience.

Raised seating will offer audience members good sightlines to the stage–and to each other. Chalfant says attendees will be “watching the rest of the audience and connecting with them. So we’ll all be making this happen together instead of just looking up at the performers.” Building on that idea, the theater’s tech booth is going to be unusually close to the stage, letting light and sound-cue operators intuit what performers need in a way that isn’t possible at a distance.

In the space’s lower level, to serve WIT’s education program, the plan calls for seven classrooms. Three will have extensive soundproofing to dampen noise from musical improv classes, which feature singing, pianos, and other instruments. And the largest classroom will be convertible into a secondary stage to add capacity for more performances.

A cafe/bar near the venue’s entrance promises to add the social cohesion Alexander mentioned has been missing. It, combined with a colorful marquee, will also help guide people into the theater. Chalfant explains, “When you come in the door, there’s a clear invitation to check in at the cafe/bar space if you want a drink or a snack. And then [you’ll] flow back into the theater. It’s designed to welcome you into the space.”

Currently in residence at Studio Theatre, WIT anticipates moving to the NoMa location next year–though it won’t be a final product per se. Thanks to the flexibility brought by WIT’s collaboration with Alexander, Chalfant believes the space will continue to develop as the WIT community settles in. Matching the always-changing nature of an improv show, the new space “doesn’t all have to be a final presentation,” Chalfant says. “It can be a good draft that we know is going to keep evolving over time.”

Danielle Steger is AIA’s senior manager, editorial & publications. She is also a longtime performer and teacher at WIT.