A new drama activity has entered the stage at De Soto High school. Jeff Yarnell is teaching an improv workshop course offered to the students every Wednesday.

Improv, or improvisational comedy, is done in games or skits usually lasting around five minutes and the actors usually have to come up with material for the skit off the top of their head while they are doing the skit.

Freshman Haydn McGrew has attended both of the improv workshops since it started two weeks ago.

“I enjoy it a lot. Its really fun and I love it. My favorite thing about it is that you can act pretty crazy. Its pretty casual and there’s not much stress,” Mcgrew said.

These workshops are designed to give students the ability to practice as an improv troupe on their own. The reason for this is the current teacher, Yarnell, who does not live in the immediate area is unable to commit to a practice every week. After a certain number of weeks, the hope is that the improv workshops will end and the troupe members will be able to practice on their own

Mcgrew said that he thinks with the current leadership, the troupe could pull off practicing on their own.

Sophomore Tristan Kuritz is one of the students helping to lead the troupe in the absence of a sponsor.

“I feel like were actually making great progress. I think there are some members who are contributing a lot,” Kuritz said.

It is still under discussion as to whether there will be a show during this school year where current members of the troupe would perform in front of an audience.

“I think if we work at it we can get it done this year, but if we don’t practice a lot, we might not be able to do it this year, but definitely next year,” Mcgrew said.

The sponsor of the troupe is undetermined, but one of the possible candidates is Yarnell’s wife, Mary, who is the drama teacher at De Soto. She has been present at both of the workshops and has given occasional comments on the students work during the workshop.

With a different style of drama class being tought by a different teacher, this brings a new style of teaching, thinking and new things to learn about drama and improv for the students taking it. But all of this could also possibly lead to an enjoyable show for the audience if the troupe decides to do a show during the 2013-14 school year.