Regina Saisi
Company Member since 1986
Coach since 1987
Regina Saisi has been a BATS Main Stage Company member since 1987 and has served as Artistic Director, director, and coach. She is currently Dean at BATS School of Improv.
The focus of her work throughout her career has been improvised theatre. She has been deeply involved in the growth of the San Francisco Bay Area’s fertile improvisation community, helping to start several improv companies including Riot Squad, Improv Theatre, Pulp Playhouse, True Fiction Magazine, and Improv Playhouse of San Francisco.
As an actor and improviser, Regina frequently pushes the boundaries of improvisational theory and practice. With Improv Theatre, for example, she helped pioneer longform improv, taking improvised theatre from simple scenes into full-length, multi-act narratives. Pulp Playhouse employed extensive genre study to define both storytelling style and storytelling structure.
She helped create her most sophisticated work with True Fiction Magazine, a company that has performed internationally and has brought the style and structure of telling multiple stories to Sweden, Finland, Italy, and Belgium.
Regina has taught at Studio ACT, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and TAM High School, where she also directs improvised performances.
Q & A
What was your first BATS show?
1987 with the Bolognas, Brian Lohmann, Greg Proops, and Rafe Chase in San Francisco
What are your favorite formats?
Improvised Tarantino, True Fiction Magazine (stories inside of stories), one-act and three-act improvised plays
Funniest moment on the BATS stage?
In a Theatresports™ match, the other team had to do a scene in the time it took Ed Alter and me to exchange clothes.
What are your artistic influences?
John Steinbeck, Jean Shelton, Warner Brothers cartoons
Favorite movie?
There are many I love, but the one that changed my life was Some Like It Hot.
Favorite play?
A Streetcar Named Desire
