The State Botanical garden is hosting an event for the community this evening. Improv Theater Games for youth: For the Love of Language gets underway this evening from 6 to 7 pm.
“The first part of the set they can expect to be ridiculous,” According to Melisa Cahnman Taylor. “I open the set with ‘if everyone is ridiculous, then no one is ridiculous’ and we try to be as silly as possible, so we’ll warm up our bodies and our minds.”
Melisa Cahnman-Taylor is a professor of language and literature at UGA. She says anyone can do theater.
“So tonight my students and I are going to teach improv games, ways for young people and old people and everyone in-between to be silly; to be in the moment; and to use language creatively, to communicate all kinds of meanings.”
Cahnman-Taylor will open the event then work with students to get the crowd involved.
“Then my first year Odyssey students, who are experts in theater, will co-lead with me the group in a bunch of fun, improv games that have connections to how we learn languages. In the end, my graduate students who learning to teach languages: Spanish, Korean, Moldovan, Mandarin; are also learning how to teach language through theater.”
The free event is free and open to families, students, and community members of all ages. It takes place in the new theater in the woods.