An indoor meeting room with an audience watching a panel of speakers on stage, with a backdrop featuring a cityscape and banners reading 'POPPY GORE'.

From stage fright to spotlight, transform anxiety into confidence with improv-based therapy

Curtains Up Anxiety Down

Overcome social anxiety through play, performance, and connection

Seven people sitting in a circle having a discussion in a room with beige walls and a green tablecloth on a long table.
Three people in a room, with one woman in the center showing an surprised or expressive reaction as she talks, while the others listen or interact.
A group of people dancing and having fun in a room with tables and chairs.

Where Anxiety Meets Play

An Improvisation and performance-based group therapy approach that helps people ease social anxiety, take surprising risks, build confidence, and have fun doing it.

Curtain Up Anxiety Down is an improv-driven, playful, evidence-informed group experience designed by Murray Dabby, LCSW and colleague Lesly Fredman , an Atlanta-based creativity and Improvisation coach.

Through laughter, creativity, and guided improvisation, participants gently stretch their comfort zones and discover new ways to relate, communicate, and be themselves—without pressure or judgment. The group dialogue helps people to stretch further and grow group intimacy.

About Our Team: Lesly Fredman is a Creativity Coach (www.leslyfredman.com) partnering with Murray Dabby to bring this course to life; She is the Managing and Artistic Director of Theatre on the Prowl, with over 30 years experience teaching improvisation, performing, and directing numerous theatrical productions, and a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader. She is the co-creator/leader, with Imago therapist Jesse Bathrick, of playshops for couples (“Play Date Nights”) and women in transition (“Navigating the Space In Between” and “Off and On the Map”); and with poet Alice Teeter, of Improv Workshops, a blend of poetry and improvisation to enliven the creative process. She has led church retreats (“Play as Spiritual Practice”) and improv classes for men in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction and adults suffering from social anxiety. Lesly has a B.A. in Humanities with an emphasis in Theatre from Florida Presbyterian College and a year of graduate work at the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR. She has received training from Coaches Training Institute, one of the premier life coach training organizations in the world, and is a member of the Creativity Coaching Association, the Global Play Brigades, and the Artist Conference Network, a nationwide coaching community of artists.

Lesly Fredman

Lesly Fredman is a Creativity Coach (www.leslyfredman.com); Managing and Artistic Director of Theatre on the Prowl, with over 30 years experience teaching improvisation, performing, and directing numerous theatrical productions; and a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader. She is the co-creator/leader, with Imago therapist Jesse Bathrick, of playshops for couples (“Play Date Nights”) and women in transition (“Navigating the Space In Between” and “Off and On the Map”); and with poet Alice Teeter, of Improvoetry Workshops, a blend of poetry and improvisation to enliven the creative process. She has led church retreats (“Play as Spiritual Practice”) and improv classes for men in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction and adults suffering from social anxiety. Lesly has a B.A. in Humanities with an emphasis in Theatre from Florida Presbyterian College and a year of graduate work at the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR. She has received training from Coaches Training Institute, one of the premier life coach training organizations in the world; and is a member of the Creativity Coaching Association and the Artist Conference Network, a nationwide coaching community of artists.

What This Program Helps With

This group helps you:

  • Ease social anxiety in real-life situations

  • Build confidence in conversations and groups

  • Quiet the fear of judgment

  • Improve communication and emotional expression

  • Strengthen public speaking and presentation skills

  • Feel more flexible, spontaneous, and connected in social settings

Who This Group Is For

People experiencing:

  • Social anxiety

  • Shyness

  • Fear of public speaking

  • Difficulty expressing needs or emotions

  • Overthinking in groups

  • Isolation or withdrawal

Also great for:

  • Teens & adults

  • Anyone looking to grow confidence in the community

  • Body Image issues and fear coming from trauma

How Curtain Up Anxiety Down Works (Core Value)

Unlike traditional talk therapy, this program uses improvisation, role-play, and creative interaction to help you practice new ways of being in a supportive group. Think of it as playful exposure therapy, but with humor, warmth, and no pressure to perform.

  • Playful Practice – improv games + guided interactions

  • Community Support – small, structured group

  • Real-Life Transfer – skills you take into work, dating, school & everyday life

Why Improv Therapy Works

Improv naturally reduces overthinking, builds present-moment awareness, and helps people loosen rigid patterns that fuel anxiety. Studies show improv can improve social confidence, communication, and emotional resilience.

In Curtain Up Anxiety Down, you’ll learn to:

  • Stay present instead of spiraling

  • Try new behaviors safely

  • Rewrite automatic anxious scripts

  • Celebrate mistakes as part of growth

What Sessions Look Like (Clarifies expectations)

Short, warm, and simple:

Each session includes:

  • Light warm-ups

  • Improv exercises

  • Paired or small-group activities

  • Reflection + discussion

  • Supportive therapist guidance

No acting experience needed: ever.
No pressure to perform or to be funny: always.