LEWISTOWN — On Thursday nights, instead of a movie rolling its credits, Theater No. 5 at Miller Cinemas shifts into something entirely different. The popcorn machine quiets down, the lobby empties out and a small crowd drifts toward a room where the only script is that there is no script at all.

Miller Cinemas has opened its doors to a weekly, free improv workshop, a family-friendly space where anyone can watch, participate or simply test the waters. The sessions began on May 14 and now run every Thursday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the theater, located at 46 W. Market St. in Lewistown.

The workshop is led by 34-year-old Louis “Mundo” Lopez Jr., a Mifflin County native who has been doing improv since he was 18. Lopez discovered the art form during his first semester at Lock Haven University, a time when he didn’t know many people and wasn’t sure where he fit.

The campus Improv Club changed that. It gave him a community, lifelong friends and a creative outlet that has shaped nearly every part of his life.

Lopez has been carrying the idea for a local improv class for a while. He wanted a place where beginners felt welcome, where families could participate together and where people who “fall through the cracks,” as he puts it, could find a spot to belong. The idea finally clicked earlier this year when he ran into Sherry Burns, owner of Miller Cinemas at the Lewistown Festival of Ice. He mentioned the concept. She immediately offered the space.

Since then, the workshop has grown into a small but lively weekly gathering. Attendance averages eight to 10 people, ranging from high school students to adults in their 60s and 70s. Some have theater experience. Some write. Some have never stepped on a stage. All of them, Lopez said, bring something valuable.

The workshop is built on simple principles: no pressure, no judgment, no forcing anyone onstage. Participants can jump in or sit back and watch. The laughter is always with people, never at them. The goal is to stretch imagination, not chase punchlines.

One of Lopez’s favorite exercises pairs two people onstage. One is assigned an animal. The other must describe it in as many ways as possible — physical traits, emotional reactions, unexpected comparisons. The point isn’t to be funny. It’s to think differently, to break out of the first idea and discover what else might be hiding behind it.

“Improv is a form of performance where the entire scene is created in the moment without the use of a script,” Lopez tells newcomers. “All moments are unscripted and spontaneous. It works because of collaboration with other actors and the audience.”

That collaboration is what keeps people coming back. The room is relaxed, supportive and often surprisingly moving. People who arrive nervous end up taking risks. People who thought they had nothing to say discover they can build entire scenes from a single prompt. Families play together. Strangers become scene partners. The workshop has become a small creative refuge tucked inside a movie theater.

Lopez volunteers his time each week. Outside of improv, he works at JP Edwards in Burnham and DJs events, but Thursday nights have become a highlight — a chance to help people loosen up, connect and try something new. He also writes plays, a skill he honed in college, and credits his father, Louis Lopez Sr., as one of his biggest supporters.

The workshop is open to anyone. No registration. No fee. No experience required. Just a willingness to show up and see what happens.

For Lopez, that’s the heart of it. “People are looking for a spot,” he said. “I want this to be that spot.”

And every Thursday night, inside Theater No. 5, it is.