Managing Director
Tammy Schuiling
Managing Director This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tammy joins the ITI after a long career in marketing & communications. Although a performer at heart, Tammy prefers to be behind the scenes and has used her marketing skills to create awareness, fundraise and lobby support for various arts and culture organizations. Her rare combination of creative and strategic approach has garnered numerous marketing awards, which she hopes will be beneficial for the iTi. When not spending time with her "tribe" of artistic friends, she likes to walk her rescue dog, eat/cook/write about food, and is reigniting her love of painting, writing and photography. Tammy is based in Calgary, Canada and loves to travel to far away places - especially if a music festival is involved. She's looking forward to connecting with the global iTi tribe of improvisors.
Tammy will oversee the general operations of the ITI on a part-time basis.
Anna Cherniaieva
Office Administrator This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Anna traveled to Canada from Ukraine in June 2022 and currently resides in Canmore, Alberta in the Rocky Mountains. Anna will primarily be working on membership renewals and licensing agreements on a part-time basis.
Anna has extensive experience in office management and customer service in her previous roles as Executive Manager, Deputy General Director and Administrative Activities Manager in Ukraine. Since arriving in Canada, she has held roles as Supervisor Housekeeping, Dentistry Administrator and worked with Settlement Services in the Bow Valley as a Community Champion to help new immigrants in the area. She has enjoyed learning about Canada and exploring the Rocky Mountain region she now calls home.
Board Members
Abodi Jatal
Interim Board President This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Abdullah - or Abodi - is a psychotherapist, and a drama therapy practitioner. He also works as an artistic consultant for many NGOs. He started his acting career in 2010, and started training theatre in 2013. He specialized in improvisational theatre, theatre of the oppressed and playback theatre. Also, he used applied improv to design and deliver training for NGOs, companies, universities... etc.
He was a co-director of Laban's improv troupe and he is a founding member of its Psycho-social theatre troupe (Wasl). In December 2021 Abodi was elected as an Advisory Board member of ITI and now he is the Africa Indian subcontinent and Middle East Region
John Gilchrist
Board Member
John Gilchrist is best known for his thirty-eight years as a restaurant critic for CBC Radio Calgary and as a prolific writer on food and restaurants. He also taught Food & Culture programs at the University of Calgary for many years. A native Albertan, he attended the U of C with most of the original members of Loose Moose, graduating in 1977.
Gilchrist was also the first manager of Loose Moose (1979 – 84) and created the role of Commentator for TheatreSports. He performed in many Loose Moose productions including Waiting for Godot and The TheatreSports Hamlet, both directed by Keith Johnstone; Blithe Spirit, directed by Mel Tonken; and the original Moose production of Ben-Hur. He acted as producer on many of the productions and organized the first TheatreSports tournaments between Calgary and Vancouver as well as Moose tours to Quebec and New York.
Gilchrist returns to the Moose for special occasions – the Calgary Winter Olympics, the 25th and 35th Anniversaries – and is now happily enjoying retirement in Calgary with his lovely wife Catherine Caldwell.
Rebecca Stockley
Board Member
Rebecca is a founding member of BATS Improv and was the first dean of the BATS School of Improv, celebrating over 35 years of improvisation leadership in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a BFA from the University of Washington’s Professional Actor Training Program, she continues to be an active mainstage performer.
In addition to working with numerous top universities and theater schools, her corporate clients include Pixar Animation Studios, Lucasfilm, and Apple Developer Academy. As a leader in the innovative field of Applied Improv, Rebecca was named an Apple Distinguished Educator in 2005. Her book: Improvisation Through Theatresports™ (although currently out of print) is a curriculum for teaching improvisation to young people. Rebecca has traveled the world improvising, teaching, and sharing the principles of improvisation for application offstage.
Lena Breuer
Board Member
Lena Breuer is an actress, journalist, producer, trainer, organisational talent, passionate foodie. She loves real, emotional scenes, stories with attitude and great nonsense on stage.
Lena studied acting and journalism and lost her heart to improv
in 2010, constantly learning from different teachers and in different programs like the IO summer intensive. Today she is teaching and performing in Germany and all over Europe. She taught and performed at german and international festivals and worked with improv superheroes like Keith Johnstone and Patti Stiles, in physical and scripted theatre, camera acting and clowning.
She is the founder of Impro Köln, a professional improv company in Cologne / Germany and the IFO Impro Fest, the first ever online improv festival, created in times of Covid, which became an offline experience in 2021.
Lena is also working as a professional tv producer for Germany ́s biggest tv stations like ZDF, WDR, ARD and Arte. She is producing
documentations and reports about political and social topics, working
worldwide. Lena has been in many radio shows in German radio – as a host, but also, as a reporter and sidekick. Nowadays she is working as a live reporter for the public radio station WDR2 and 1LIVE.
Stephen Davidson
Board Member
Stephen Davidson is the Artistic Director of The Improvised Play, Improvable, QI: Queer Improv, Carmen: A gender-swapped Film Noir Fantasy, and of Zeal: The Pride Improv Festival. Stephen is the author of two books about improv, Play Like an Ally and Improvising Gender. Stephen teaches improv independently and in through City Academy and Hoopla Improv. He has taught and performed all over the world, and regularly leads improv teacher training courses for theatres and schools. Stephen is also a founding member of Safe Play, a European group working to combat sexual harassment in improv. impromiscuous.com
Theresa Robbins Dudeck, PhD
Board Member
Theresa Robbins Dudeck, PhD, is an international theatre scholar-practitioner with expertise in impro and applied impro. Theresa wrote Keith Johnstone’s biography (Bloomsbury 2013), serves as his literary executor, and is considered a foremost teacher of his Impro System of actor/improviser training. She is a Fulbright Scholar, co-founder of The Global Improvisation Initiative, co-director of the docuseries “On Keith: Artists Speaks on Johnstone & Impro," and co-editor of two books on applied improvisation published by Methuen Drama.
Patti Stiles
Board Member
Patti Stiles has over 40 years’ experience in improvisation. Trained by Keith Johnstone, at the Loose Moose Theatre, she developed performance skills and teaching approach which comes from extensive experience with Keith and a deep understanding of Johnstone’s work and philosophy. She is the past Artistic Director of the ITI, Rapid Fire Theatre and Impro Melbourne, has performed and taught in 25 countries and been seconded to teach at major performing arts schools: LAMDA, RADA and Cambridge University (UK), University El Bosque and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Colombia), National Institute of Circus Arts (AU) and the Danish National School of the Performing Arts (DK), to select a few. Patti’s book Improvise Freely has received widespread international attention. A previous ITI Regional Representative, Patti is delighted to return to the ITI Board.
Enrico D’Agata
Board Member & Treasurer
In love with improv theater for 20 years, both as a teacher and performer, Enrico is based in Rome and serves as the Artistic Director of the Tolfama International Festival of Improvised Arts (Rome). He was the first to introduce Theatresport to Rome, pioneering this form in the city. In 2022, he founded 'The Spot,' Italy’s first venue dedicated to artistic improvisation, where he also holds the role of Artistic Director. Since 2017, he has led the international Improv collective known as 'THE SABIR PROJECT,' which brings together improvisers from across Mediterranean countries for annual artistic residencies, creating a unique, collaborative experience in improvisational art. Enrico also serves as the Treasurer for the ITI.
Regional Reps
Andrei Moscheto
Central and South America Representative This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Andrei is an award-winning actor, director, playwright and improvisor, working professionally in theater since 1991. Based in south Brazil, he’s known as an artist specializing in teaching improvisation and collective creation (using impro dynamics to gather ideas from everyone and turn them into a new theater play) and has been invited around the country to help theater groups. He is the founder and director of Antropofocus, a Theater Company from Curitiba, Brazil that has been producing comic theater plays and impro shows for almost 21 years. In 2011, after taking classes with Keith Johnstone in Calgary, he partnered with Daniel Nascimento to found the production company, Impro DnA, focused on the production of improvised formats in Brazil, like "Micetro" and "Gorilla".
He is dedicated to helping the impro community and passing on his knowledge to future generations. From 1998 to 2005 he taught children and teens, from 2005 to 2006 he taught as a college professor, and from 2007 on he became a teacher working out of the Antropofocus HQ. Recently he has been helping corporations learn how they can apply Impro Techniques to their core business value in exciting and innovative ways.
Natsumi Toyoda
Asia Region Representative This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Natsumi lives in Nagoya Japan and studied impro from Takashi Takao while in graduate school. She has read many books about Keith Johnstone; “Impro for Storytellers”,"Impro” and many others. She attended Keith' 10 Days workshops in Canada.
Natsumi has participated in many Keith Johnston show formats and belongs to different groups. She has contributed to spreading Impro out in a wide range of fields, including children's and educational (IMPRO KIDS TOKYO), actors and the public (IMPRO ACADEMY), and businesspeople (Fearless Inc.), as well as training for childcare professionals.
She is a founder of the Impro Team “Shibainu-Pirates” and hold many shows and workshops in Chubu region and has connection all over in Japan.
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Hsiao-Hsien Wu
Special Liaison, Mandarin-speaking specialist This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Hsiao-Hsien Wu is the founder/artistic director of Guts Improv Theatre, Taipei. Guts Improv is the first improv theatre in Taiwan and was founded in 2004 after Hsiao-Hsien studied from BATS Improv, San Francisco in 2002-03. She teaches and produces improv and provides applied improv training as profession for 18 years. She is the translator of Improv Wisdom (Patricia Ryan Madson) and the reviser of Impro (Keith Johnstone) in Traditional Chinese version. She is the Improv instructor in the Department of Filmmaking, Taipei National University of Arts. She is the host of the Mandarin speaking podcast show called "Improvism."
Vacant
Nordic Region Representative This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Guido Materi
Europe West Region Representative This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Guido graduated in 2001 from Boston University, College of Communication, in Film & TV production. He is based in Florence, Italy, where his improvisation experience started in 2006 with the Lega Improvvisazione Firenze. In 2018 he attended the intensive impro workshop held in London by Keith Johnstone, and in 2019 the International Improvisation School at the Loose Moose Theater in Calgary, which were life-changing experiences for him. He is an improviser, teacher, director, and actor. As a member of ATTOUNO he works on the Maestro Impro format, and with LIF he works on the Match format. With QUINTEOFF he organizes and performs shows and readings to adults and children aged 3 and over. He is also a high school teacher and a facilitator of the Lego Serious Play® method. Guido also works in the tourism sector, renting out cosy apartments in Florence to international people. He is a big fan of role playing games and board games, of which he has a huge collection that he uses sometimes for special projects with teenagers. He is a father of 4 children, he has a dog, a cat and loves long walks in the mountains.
Mark Jane
Co-representative, Europe West This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Mark Jane joined the ITI as co-representative for Europe West in February 2024.
Mark has specialised in acting, directing and teaching improvised theatre since 1994. Originally from England, he moved to Paris in 1996 where he developed a strong presence in the world of French improvisation. In 2001 he was a founding member of the “Improfessionals”, the first English speaking impro group in Paris. Through this group, Mark explored a wide range of improvisation shows: cabaret, long form, Gorilla, Maestro, improvised musicals, Trance Mask, Theatresports, Catch impro, Match d’impro, etc… He organised and directed the first regular Maestro in French in Paris in 2010. In 2012 Mark supervised the French translation of « Impro – Improvisation and theatre » by Keith Johnstone. He currently performs with the French impro group “Eux” in Paris. Mark is also specialised in Keith Johnstone’s Trance Mask techniques that he developed with Steve Jarand. He teaches and makes masks with his group “Trance Mask France” who perform regular trance mask shows in French. In 2018 he published his book “Jeux et Enjeux: La boîte à outils de l’improvisation théâtrale” in French. In 2021 he published the English version “Creating Improvised Theatre: Tools, Techniques, and Theories for Short form and Narrative improvisation.”
Abodi Jatal
Co-representative Africa & Middle East Region This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Abdullah - or Abodi - is a psychotherapist, and a drama therapy practitioner. He also works as an artistic consultant for many NGOs. He started his acting career in 2010, and started training theatre in 2013. He specialized in improvisational theatre, theatre of the oppressed and playback theatre. Also, he used applied improv to design and deliver training for NGOs, companies, universities... etc.
He was a co-director of Laban's improv troupe and he is a founding member of its Psycho-social theatre troupe (Wasl). In December 2021 Abodi was elected as an Advisory Board member of ITI and now he is the Africa Indian subcontinent and Middle East Region.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Juš Milčinski is an improviser, actor and producer, co-founder of IGLU Theatre, which is celebrating its 10th season this year. He has been improvising since his first year of high school in 1999 and collaborated with many Slovenian impro projects such as ŠILA - high school impro league, Impro liga (Slovenia’s shortform competition for adults) and Impro klub, a longform improvisational project.
Juš now works as an improviser and teacher within the IGLU Theatre and as an actor and a host on Slovenian national TV. He is one of the most active producers in the field of improvisational theatre in Slovenia, producing the national festival of improvisational theatre Naked Stage and three EU improvisational projects: Should I Stay or Should I Go?, Our Lives and Along the Walk and he is also the coordinator of the workshop program of the Berlin Impro festival, one of the biggest festivals in Europe. He occasionally works as a director of theatre performances for young people. As an improviser, he visited many impro theatres in Europe and North America.He is a proud member of the board of Ohana, a network of improvisers from Europe, Turkey and Israel.
Cam Percy
Oceania Region RepresentativeThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Cam is a school teacher turned improvisation teacher, director, performer and forever-student based in Brisbane, Australia. Cam started improvising in 2010 with ImproMafia and went on to hold the positions of President and Training Director with the company. Cam has been around Australia and the world teaching, directing and performing improvisation, including her original formats Fears by Firelight, Swipe Right and The New Tales of Quinn. Cam has also produced, directed and performed in Maestro™, Theatresports™ and Gorilla Theatre™ shows. In Brisbane, Cam teaches impro for personal development, performance and corporate teams. She believes that nothing connects you to the present moment and to other people like improvising theatre.
Rina Shimomura
North America West Representative This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Rina will share the North America West Representative role with Jeff. She lives in Vancouver, Canada and is a member of Tightrope Theatre where she actively performs Keith’s formats, Gorilla Theatre and Maestro Impro, as well as being a facilitator. She studied impro from Takashi Takao while in graduate school, has read “Impro for Storytellers” and attended Keith' 10 Days workshops in Canada. Rina is the president and co-founder of IMPRO KIDS TOKYO in Japan where, she teaches impro as a class for children and also provide lectures to adults. She is also a board member of a corporate training company called Fearless, which offers impro training to Japanese companies.
Velvet Wells
North America East This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Velvet (they/them) is a proud Black, autistic, queer, disabled, velvet-voiced creator, and an award winning, professional devised theatre artist living in Ottawa.
Velvet created Velvet Duke Productions, a transmedia company to feature their devised theatre pieces in live and virtual spaces. Velvet toured “Personal Demon Hunter” (Toronto & Victoria Fringe Festivals, 2019). Velvet created virtual experiences: “Boldly Blerd Trek” (Orlando Fringe, 2020); “Djinn Joint” (The Primetime Festival, Toronto Fringe, 2021), and Velvet Duke’s Family Friendly Comedy Concert (Queen West Arts Crawl, 2021). “(Re)Tired Magical Black Man” (Ottawa Fringe, 2022) earned the “Emerging Artist” award of excellence. “(Re)Tired Magical Black Man” won the national “Emerging Artist” award from the JRG Society for the Arts. An agent of empowerment, Velvet’s improvisational workshops help people develop their performance excellence. Organizations include: Improv College, Edinburgh International Improv Festival, SC Johnson, and Guelph Pride.
Thank you to our past board members!
Amy McKenzie, Daniel Orrantia, Dennis Cahill, Elena Lah, Erik Van der Liet, Felipe Ortiz, Frank Totino, Geoffrey Dolan, Helene Abrahamsen, Jukka Lindstrom, Michael Durkin, Nadine Antler, Nathalie van Renterghem, Patti Stiles, Shawn Kinley, Terra Hazelton, Vera Achatkin, Jay Ono, Vid Sodnik, Jun Imai, Chris Wells, Doug Wong, Jay Hitt, Kylie Schultz, Steve Jarand, Neal Leaheey, Marko Mustac, Dan O'Connor, Rebecca Northan, Karen Brown-Fournell, Jill Johnson, Hashm Nasser, Yuri Hughes, Kamil Kivanç Özdemir, Veena Sood, Jeff Gladstone