An incident at the bar after improv class makes Aliya question the wisdom of upholding the “yes, and…” mantra at the core of improv, while our culture grapples with issues around consent.

Aliya asks professional improvisers Kayla Lorette, Becky Johnson, Alia Rasul and Ann Pornel what they do when other players’ unconscious biases take over the scene.

Intimacy Director Siobhan Richardson explains how she eliminates the guesswork from onstage love scenes by choreographing them like fight sequences.

Illustration by Seth Scriver.