Creative DC Profile: Mark Chalfant

Mark Chalfant wants you to play.

As the artistic director of Washington Improv Theater (WIT), Mark is committed to WIT's mission of "unleashing the creative power of improv in DC," and igniting "a spirit of play."

"Spirit of play," in a town known for doing serious business, and for taking itself way too seriously?

Yes.

But - really?

Yes.

Mark explains: "DC is a city filled with so many big ideas. I think many people let those ideas become more important than their own lives. We walk among many martyrs to many causes." So, what does that have to do with improv? Improv "unlocks who you really are," he says, and "it makes you fearless." On a personal level, Mark says improv prompted him to challenge many of his assumptions about life: "Improv saved me from sealing myself up."

I recently chatted with Mark over email about the art of improv, living a creative life and running an improv organization in the nation's capitol. (Full disclosure: I am a former WIT student and am friends with Mark. I'm also in an improv troupe, Jinx, that performs with WIT troupes.)

How long have you lived in DC? What were your first impressions of the city?

I have been living downtown for 12 years, but I was a kid in the Maryland suburbs. I moved here after college and spending a year in Russia, so I was just so grateful to be on the same cultural frequency as my surroundings. But entering the work world here showed me a city of people whose noses are often pressed way too hard to the grindstone. DC is a city filled with so many big ideas. I think many people let those ideas become more important than their own lives. We walk among many martyrs to many causes.

How did you first get involved with improv?

As a poor DC office grunt, with no money to drop on theater tickets, I joined a play-reading group that did cold readings of plays every Monday (the Dark Night Playreaders, it was called). Once a month instead of a reading, we did an improv workshop under the guidance of Carole Douglis, who had been WIT’s original artistic director. The exercises she brought were very provocative. She challenged a lot of the conclusions I was comfortably drawing at the time about life, and she turned out to be right. Improv saved me from sealing myself up.

Tell me about improv as a creative outlet.

“Outlet” is a great word! When you’re improvising in a relaxed and playful state, [the creativity] really does just come out. Every improviser I know has had moments of brilliant wit or emotion that just “happened,” with almost no conscious awareness of what was happening. That’s the zone we’re always trying to play in, and it’s elusive but SO rewarding when you hit it. Like true love.

Improv is also a little scary. It asks you to assassinate your own inner censor and subvert most of the social conditioning you’ve absorbed your whole life. That’s a tall order, and it’s a big job. But when you do it, you can find that it unlocks who you really are in a way that lets you be creative in an impulsive and collaborative way. [Improv also] makes you fearless. Few things are as beautiful to me as a fearless person.

You're in a position a lot of people would envy: your day job is directly connected to your art. What are your favorite things about being WIT's artistic director? What are the biggest challenges?

Favorite is so easy: facilitating creativity. Every brilliant connection made on WIT’s stage, every success that a student has in class, every discovery made in one of our community outreach programs: they are all extremely thrilling for me.

Challenges are many. On a personal level, if I invert your question I could say that my art is now contaminated by my day job. I try to not wear both “hats” at once, or else it really splits my focus. Bigger organizational challenges are the same as for any growing organization: fundraising, growing audience, trying to serve an ever-larger group of stakeholders who care passionately about improv in Washington.

What is it like to run an improv organization in DC?

It’s a trip. I never imagined there would be so much office work for WIT. And SO MANY FILES!!! It’s a huge challenge, because we’re so understaffed (like most young arts organizations). It’s great to be a sort of ambassador for this art form in a city that takes its art seriously, and it’s fun to advance a craft that’s a little more raw and punk than the classical theater that abounds in DC.

What inspires you? What keeps you going artistically?

One thing I thrive on is a challenge. Give me something that seems impossible and I will hurl myself into it with glee. That’s the case for the improvised musical that WIT is mounting this fall: HUGELY AMBITIOUS. On a more emotional level, I’m personally inspired by stories of hope and love amidst the immense challenges and ugliness of the world. Those stories are all around us, sometimes just in a glance you see between two strangers. The shows I’ve done and seen that were the most memorable had characters that were flawed but likeable, usually making big mistakes but getting through somehow.

What advice do you have for people looking for a more creative life in DC?

Get to it already! Don’t let time pass you by. And take an improv class!