CODE OF CONDUCT & HARASSMENT POLICY

OUR VALUES

• Collaboration - Community is important, and we want to see a diverse group of individuals and organizations working together and encouraging each other.

• Inclusivity - All are welcome, regardless of ability level, experience, or other categories/labels. We want to create a place for anyone who wants to learn, educate or perform improv.

• Safety - mutual respect and compassion allows people to feel free to express themselves in a healthy, appropriate context.

Overall Rules

• No racist speech

• No sexist speech

• No homophobic speech

• No transphobic speech

• No ageist speech

• No ableist speech

• No hate speech of any kind

• No verbal or sexual harassment

No Discrimination On the Basis of:

• Age

• Gender

• Race

• Ethnicity

• Sexual Orientation

• Religion

• Physical/mental ability
  

Physical Guidelines

• Do not touch anyone without their express consent

• Do not physically endanger yourself or others

• Do not physically threaten anyone

• Do not sexualize or objectify anyone

Sensitivities & Trigger Warnings

• Without prior knowledge of what may be traumatic for others, act with consideration and refrain from topics not limited to, but including:

• Sexual or violent Assault

• Suicide

• Emotional and physical abuse

“Family Friendly” Content Guidelines

If you would like a performance to fall under our “family-friendly” label, the following are additional content restrictions on top of existing code of conduct policies.

• No sexual content

• No drug-use or intoxication

• No explicit language

• No realistic depictions of violence

• No religious expletives 

Protocols & Resources

Staff/Educators are the first line of defense. If any of the guidelines are violated, staff are encouraged to step-in and address harmful speech/actions of any kind in the moment, as it comes up. Failing this, staff should act accordingly to engage with members of the community who violate the code of conduct if not during class/rehearsal, then directly afterwards in a one-on-one conversation. Ensuring the safety of our students, staff and community members is a high priority goal. For more tools on how to conduct effective and respectful conversations, follow Kickstands Peer-to-Peer Conversation Guidelines.

In the event that a performer, student, or staff member violates the code of conduct, in addition to addressing the issue, a verbal warning may be issued. Upon repeated violations, the offender may be suspended, or banned from the premises.

Students and community members should be empowered to address harmful speech, or code of conduct violations themselves. If you’d like staff to address your concerns, but don’t feel comfortable raising issues directly, please see our anonymous reporting section on this page to submit an incident report.

Time Out

When harmful language or actions transpire, anyone (even the group/individual responsible) can make the visual sign of TIME OUT and say it, to put a pause on an activity. The educator/ group leader can ask if that person wants to speak on the subject of the timeout in the moment or later. Community members may choose whether they want to make an immediate or delayed response, as well as whether they want their response to be in public or private.

NEW CHOICE

By performing at the Peak Improv Theater, performers agree to uphold and operate within our Code of Conduct. In the event that a performer/licensee violates code of conduct, other performers have the opportunity to call “new choice” to address the violation. Staff may also issue a “new choice” warning during the performance to let them know to address the violation, and to make necessary adjustments to the performance. If performers exhibit continued violations, the performance will be called out directly, and failure to comply can result in an intermission in which the issue may be discussed directly and privately. Failure to comply after the intermission will result in the termination of the performance with no compensation.

What to look out for

We encourage all of our students, staff, and community members to help in our effort to create a safe and inclusive environment. Help us first and foremost by not engaging in the following behaviors:

Heckling

In the event that an audience member is in violation of our Code of Conduct, they may be asked to leave the premises immediately without refund. In the event that an audience member is disruptive, but not in violation of the CoC, performers may issue an “assistance card” if they would like the venue to assume responsibility for addressing the patron. First interaction after disruption should always be a verbal warning that if disruption continues, they will be asked to leave without refund. If a patron refuses to comply with a request to exit, the police will be called to remove them for trespassing.

Punching Down

You may be called upon or choose to perform characters who aren’t a match for you. Sometimes it’s because you’ll be labeled a squirrel, other times you might be labeled a great grandfather, or if someone labels you as a different gender than you are, or even in some cases a different race or sexual orientation. These are tricky, and there are some circumstances that should be avoided all together. Be careful with the gifts you give and take. 

First off, you can always end a scene or pause in class or practice if you’re ever given a character choice that you’re worried you might harm others with your performance. You can always edit/end the scene in a show as well if you feel others in the show are doing that. 

Secondly, approach any choice with respect and don’t punch down. The “funny thing” about these characters is NOT who they are. The aspect of them that sets them apart from you is not what is funny. There are lots of hacky, old bits about certain types of characters, common associations with certain characters, often they are rooted in mocking the suffering of others. For instance with older characters, folks might be mocking dementia or hearing loss. Those jokes that have been told a million times and are ageist as well as ableist. Other people’s suffering or struggles is not a source of comedy. It’s potentially harmful for audience members and team mates to hear their experience ignorantly mocked for laughter. 

However, if you like, YOUR experience and suffering can totally be a source of comedy for you to share with us. That process can be healing. If you find folks with similar experiences,  you might want to explore that as a team or show, just let folks know what they’re in for. 

A great place to explore for comedy is our shared human experience. 

Punching down is ignorantly trading the suffering, pain and trauma inflicted on others for laughter. Punching up is going after those who have inflicted that suffering, pain and trauma on others. It’s important to keep in mind that some “punches up” aren’t meant for everyone to throw. Speak from experience or let those who have experience speak from theirs.

Harmful Characterizations

Be considerate of community members, staff, and audiences when making character choices on stage. How you intend an improvised choice is not always how others will see it. When someone raises a concern by saying “new choice” or “timeout” please respect the courage it takes for someone to bring that choice to attention, and do NOT dismiss or minimize it.

Consider the optics of choices you make. If a cisgender white male performer is playing the role of a female character, or a person of color, these characters should be portrayed with a high degree of compassion, or not at all. We encourage playing characters that are true to your lived experience.

Using an accent of a nationality other than your own if mishandled, can be extremely problematic. Please note that we strive to create characters, and not caricatures or stereotypes.

We acknowledge that playing a character that doesn’t align with your sexual orientation, gender, race, physical/mental ability or ethnicity is something that can happen onstage, we recommend the use of extreme sensitivity when doing so. While the freedom of choice to play characters is important, making sure that everyone can feel safe in our space is more important.

If you’re still not sure where the line is, you can always avoid walking up to it. In improv there are infinite choices, so perhaps ask why it would be important to play a character that exists outside of your lived experience, rather than one you can more effectively and genuinely portray.

This is in reference to marginalized and oppressed groups specifically. There is nothing stopping you from playing a mother, even if you don’t have kids; an astronaut, if you’ve never been to space; or a tap-dancing dog, presuming you aren’t one of those either. We ask that you consider this policy before making the choice to play someone of a different race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion than your own.

Refund Policy

In the event you or your party is unable to attend an event, or class for which you pre-purchased tickets online, a 100% credit is available to be applied toward any future available event, class, workshop, or service. 95% Cash or credit refunds for unrealized services are available upon request within 30 days of the event. These refunds can be applied to the card used in that transaction, or cash can be picked up in-person at our box office. A 5% service fee (based on the total transaction) will be withheld from these cash/credit refunds.

For questions about refunds, or applying a credit toward future events please email us at info@peakimprov.com or call our box office at (719) 463-8359.