Petaluma + Santa Rosa
Adult Improv Classes in Sonoma County
A weekly place to play, listen, and make something with other adults. No acting background required. Your first class is free.
Weekly Classes for Adults
Keller Co-Work Space
The Astro Motel
A Room for Grown-Ups
You Can Start Before You Feel Like an Improv Person.
Many adults are drawn to improv for reasons that have very little to do with wanting to be onstage. You might miss having a creative practice that belongs only to you. You might want to meet people outside work, screens, and the familiar routines of the week. You might be tired of thinking through every sentence before you say it. Or you might simply want an evening that feels more alive.
Stage Left makes room for all of those reasons. The classes are for adults who are curious, rusty, cautious, outspoken, shy, or returning to something they loved years ago. You do not have to arrive clever, confident, or prepared to perform. You only need to be willing to try one clear invitation at a time with a group that is doing the same.
What Adult Improv Builds
Less Performing. More Participation.
Improv is often mistaken for a test of who can make the fastest joke. In a good class, the work is more generous than that. You listen to another person, notice a detail, make a choice, and give the moment somewhere to go. The goal is not to manufacture a perfect answer. It is to get more available to what is actually happening.
Cheryl uses theatre games, physical play, partner exercises, and simple scene work to make that practice concrete. Every activity has a starting point. You may build a story one word at a time, transform an imaginary object, discover a relationship with a scene partner, or learn how a small physical choice changes a whole scene. The structure keeps the risk manageable while leaving room for surprise.
- Attention: stay with the person and the idea in front of you instead of planning three moves ahead.
- Choice: practice making an offer without waiting for certainty to arrive first.
- Connection: build scenes with people who are learning to support, not outshine, each other.
- Play: remember that creativity can be a regular habit, not a rare burst of inspiration.
For some people, this becomes a performance skill. For others, it becomes a way to get out of their own head, take a conversational risk, or reconnect with a sense of humor that daily life has made too quiet. The class does not promise a new personality. It gives you a dependable place to practice being present with other people.
Led by Cheryl King
Clear Direction. No Need to Pretend You Know the Drill.
Cheryl King founded Stage Left Studio in Manhattan in 2005 and has led it for more than 20 years. Her approach draws on the theatre-game tradition of Viola Spolin, study with improv teachers Gary Austin and Michael Gellman, and a long career in performance, directing, and coaching.
That experience matters because adults do not need to be thrown into the deep end to do brave work. Cheryl gives the room enough direction to make the next step clear, then lets the group discover what it can make together. A useful note can sharpen a scene without making anyone feel like they failed a test. Beginners get support, while experienced players still have room to stretch.
The result is a class with standards and a sense of humor. You can make an imperfect choice, find out what it gives your partner, and keep going. That is where a lot of the good stuff starts.
Meet Cheryl →A Weekly Creative Practice
Come Back Often Enough to Surprise Yourself.
A single class can shake up the week. An ongoing class gives that feeling somewhere to land. When you return, you begin to recognize the people in the room, spend less energy wondering whether you belong, and discover that the same exercise can reveal a different choice each time.
That repetition is useful because confidence in improv is rarely a switch that flips. It is built through small evidence. You notice that you recovered after a blank moment. You see a partner pick up an idea you nearly kept to yourself. You make a choice that is not perfect and realize the scene got more interesting anyway. Over time, the room becomes a place where a little uncertainty feels less like a threat and more like an opening.
Stage Left's classes are ongoing, so there is no race to finish a course or prove your value in one night. You can begin with the free first class, then return at the pace that makes sense for your week and your creative appetite.
Choose Your Night
Two Local Rooms. The Same Invitation to Play.
The Petaluma class meets Mondays from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at Keller Co-Work Space, 140 Keller Street in downtown Petaluma. The Santa Rosa class meets Tuesdays from 6:00 to 8:30 PM at The Astro Motel, 323 Santa Rosa Avenue.
Both classes welcome adults who are new to improv as well as people returning after time away. The foundation is the same: theatre games, careful listening, physical play, and shared scenes. Choose the evening and location that make it easiest to give yourself a regular place on the calendar.
This Class Is a Good Fit If You Want To
Make Time for Play
Put one creative evening on the calendar without needing to arrive polished or prepared.
Meet New People
Spend time with adults who are open to collaboration, laughter, and taking a small risk together.
Trust Your Next Move
Practice responding in the moment instead of rehearsing every possible answer in your head.
Your First Class
Come Curious. We Will Start There.
Wear something you can move in, arrive a few minutes early, and leave the pressure to be impressive at the door. A first class may include a warm-up, a partner exercise, a group game, and a short scene. You will always have a clear place to begin.
Your first class is free because a schedule cannot tell you whether a room feels right. Meet the group, try the work, and see how it lands before you decide whether to return. You do not need to explain why you want to start. Wanting a little more play in your week is reason enough.
Try Your First Class FreeFrequently Asked Questions
Are these improv classes only for performers?
No. Stage Left welcomes adults who want a creative practice, a new kind of social room, or a place to get more comfortable making choices out loud. Some people come with performance experience, but none is required.
Can I join if I have never taken an improv class?
Yes. Both weekly classes are beginner-friendly. Cheryl starts with clear theatre games and partner exercises, so you have a way into the work without needing to know the rules beforehand.
Which adult improv class should I choose?
Choose the night and location that makes it easiest to return: Petaluma meets Mondays from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, while Santa Rosa meets Tuesdays from 6:00 to 8:30 PM. Both are ongoing classes led by Cheryl.
What does it cost to take an adult improv class?
Your first class is free. After that, the first four classes cost $120, then ongoing classes are $30 each. You can try the room before deciding whether it is the right regular practice for you.
What will I need to bring?
Wear something you can move in and arrive a few minutes early. You do not need a script, acting resume, character, joke, or special equipment. Curiosity is enough to begin.
Adult Improv in Sonoma County
Make Room for Something Unexpected.
Choose a Monday or Tuesday class, meet the people in the room, and see what happens when you give yourself permission to play.