If you think improv is just a group of comedians shouting random words at each other until someone says something funny, then Nottingham’s Robin Hood International Improv Festival might just change your mind...
Now in its fifth year, RHIIF has quietly become one of the city’s best-kept cultural secrets- bringing performers from Nottingham, across the UK, and quite literally around the world together for a week of wonderfully unpredictable theatre.
Think of it as Nottingham’s answer to the Edinburgh Fringe, only with significantly less advance planning and rehearsals! The festival showcases an enormous variety of styles, from long-form storytelling and improvised musicals to physical theatre, comedy, horror and experimental performance. There’s also a packed programme of workshops, with visiting performers sharing their skills with aspiring improvisers. Whether you’re a seasoned performer or someone whose theatrical experience begins and ends with drunkenly recreating Shakespeare in the pub, there’s something here for you.
I managed to catch three very different shows during the festival, each demonstrating just how wildly creative improv can be.
First up was Parallelogramophonograph (better known as the slightly easier to pronounce P’Graph) travelling all the way from Austin, Texas and New York City. Their speciality? Creating an entire play from scratch based on nothing more than a title supplied by the audience. Having previously only experienced improv through short, self-contained scenes, watching four performers construct a complete story was genuinely impressive. We got a fully realised plot, recurring callbacks and a surprisingly extensive cast of characters- all played by four people who barely had time to catch their breath. Our particular show was ‘Surface Tension’- a bonkers sci-fi adventure involving laboratory scientists, reunited lovers and a mysterious gate containing the secrets of time and the universe. The energy never dipped and neither did the laughter. The best part? There’s absolutely no guarantee that the next show will look anything like it.
Alongside the comedy were genuinely touching scenes
The Loophole took things in a completely different direction. Inbal Lori and Raschid Daniel Sidgi combined improvised acting with live music, using instruments, sound technology, their voices and even the audience to build something entirely unique. Alongside the comedy were genuinely touching scenes, with physical theatre and interpretive movement woven throughout. It was part concert, part theatre, part fever dream- and somehow it all worked.
Finally, The Secret Show brought things back home. This local troupe takes anonymous secrets submitted by the audience and turns them into hilarious, improvised vignettes. With eight performers crammed onto the stage, there was enough frenetic energy to suggest that everything could descend into chaos at any moment. Thankfully, they kept the wheels firmly on and delivered an uproarious show built from the audience’s own confessions.
Three shows, three completely different experiences- and that’s really the magic of RHIIF. You never quite know what you’re going to get. What you do know is that it will be creative, unpredictable and probably very, very funny. If you’ve never given improv a try, this hidden Nottingham gem is the perfect place to start. And if you have? Well, you probably already know that you’re in for a treat.
The Robin Hood International Improv Festival took place at the Squire Performing Arts from Mon 31 Aug to Sun 6 Sept, 2026.
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