improbable PLAYERS   

Improbable Players is a touring troupe of young, diverse actors who present a repertoire of plays that spotlight tough social problems as they relate to substance abuse - and how and healthy choices get made. All of the actors are in long-term recovery*. All of the plays are developed from their life stories. After each performance they tell their own stories of change. Their authenticity, honesty, and speaking from the heart makes the programs come alive for audiences.

* Being "In recovery" means not picking up a drink or a drug, one day at a time. Actor / educators working with the Players must be clean and sober one year before auditioning.

"I started the company...

...in 1984 to inform people about alcoholism and drug abuse through theater. My own story, which once seemed so ordinary to me - a story of closet drinking, nightly blackouts, and endless promises to quit - became the basis for the first play, still performed today: it tells a timeless story of addiction and the hope and reality of long-term recovery."

"What did I do last night?!"   Meet Charlie, the 2nd of 6 masks that dramatize the merry-go-round of addiction. I designed and made the masks, and looked in the mirror to get the expression right. As you can see, blacking out was a scary experience. 

Learn more about the origins of this work.

Robin
I first heard about Improbable Players from someone in my voice-over class in Boston on the day I just happened to be exactly one year sober. The Players just happened to need someone in New York. I just happened to be going to move to New York to study social work.

The scene I read for the audition made me cry: I saw the truth in the story. It resonated with me. Since then I have played that role many times, first with the New York troupe, and now again since I have moved back to Boston. I play the daughter in “I’ll Never Do That!” She is the only character who gets to speak the truth about her mother’s alcoholism and set the wheels of family recovery in motion. But it isn’t easy for her – no one wants to listen to her.

The more I have the chance to perform this play, the more I feel connected with the other actors: we become a unit, and we support each other. And when that happens, I can really feel the reaction of the audience during the play and how they are with us and responding sympathetically.

Being an actor with Improbable Players is an integral part of my sobriety. I can embody my beliefs. I’m proud to be in recovery and stand behind a way of life that I believe in. I’ve discovered is that life doesn’t get any easier when you get sober, but things get clearer.

Read more actor interviews

actor/educators 2011-2012 - Boston and New York

Margaret Ann B.  BFA, Loretto Heights College, Denver - actor/ storyteller, Mrs. Potato Head - Boston
Amie C.  BA, Music Performance, Northeastern University, film and stage actor - Washington, D.C.
Steven D.  BA in Human Services, SUNY Buffalo, performance training S.A.G. Conservatory, actor, sketch comedy artist - New York
Dorothy D.  Improv/sketch actor, stand-up comic, Mrs.Potato Head -Boston
Christina E.  BA in Theater Arts and Management, UMass/Boston - actress, singer, and voice-over artist - Boston
Matt F.  BA in Theater Arts, UMass/Boston - actor - New York
Arielle G.  BA candidate, Emerson College - standup comic - New York
Brian J.  MFA in Acting, ACT: American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco - actor, singer, Polarity Therapist - New York
Bob J. actor, historic impersonator - Boston
KariAnne K.  BA Emerson College, MFA in Theater Education, Emerson, teacher and actor - Boston
Chris M. BA in Music, Summa Cum Laude, Tufts University, actor, singer/songwriter, Production Manager - New York
Bryan M.  Singer/songwriter, recording artist - San Francisco 
Maj-Britt P. Actor, fashion design student at Massachusetts College of Art & Design, Boston
Sarah R., Master of Music, The Boston Conservatory, singer, actor, Boston
Adam S, MA in Theater and Community, Emerson College, Boston - actor/teacher - Boston
Brian S. BA in Media Studies, Pomona College, MA in Intercultural Relations, Lesley University, teacher, Recovery Support Specialist, actor - Washington, D.C.
Dennis S. BFA in Theater, Boston University, actor stage and television - Boston
Mary V.  BA University of Hartford, B.F.A. musical theater, The Hartt School, stage and television actor - New York
Maiken W.  BA in Drama, University of Washington, Seattle, stage and film actor - New York

visible, valuable, vocal

Some might say the Improbable Players' message is "we drank and took drugs and had fun, so you can do it too, and then get sober like we did" --thereby encouraging substance abuse.

Our track record and our reviews prove this is not true: the Improbable Players do not demonstrate drug use or portray it in a glamourous light. The plays and follow-up discussions show that alcohol and other drug abuse was destructive in our lives, causing pain and loss with consequences we live with today. Today we:

*  Remind people that one doesn't have to be an addict to have a devastating life-changing/altering experience because of drinking too much.
*  Support those who have decided not to use.

*  Provide inspiration and encouragement to people who are trying to stop, by telling our own stories and providing information about where to get help.

*  Introduce community resources: people and organizations.
*  Changed our lives from being destructive people to people who are making a positive contribution:  visible, valuable, vocal.