Hilarious evening of Improv laughs - March 2016

HAMMING IT: Improv artistes and organisers (from left) Jay Bardell, Reuben Janes (former WHS student), Sarah Riley-Curtis, Phil Hudson and performance artist Jenda. Front: Jack Southee (WHS student), Richard Leith.

What a fantastic evening we had at our latest Improv Night! The performers, hostess and audience all lit up the Repertory Theatre on Saturday night for our first show of 2016 and what a hilarious show it was!

Performance artist Jenda, the hostess for the night, opened the proceedings after a word from acting president Phil Portland.

In an almost impossibly short green silk dress and frightening six-inch platform shoes, she introduced the four performers who would entertain the crowd for the rest of the evening. After warming up it was clear that the chemistry between them was hilariously good.

Highlights included a dating game in which Sarah Riley-Curtis was forced to determine the identities of three potential dates; a modelling shoot at a desert gone terribly wrong; a shearing gang with the inability to move their limbs; and of course the usual end-of-show dinner party where audience member Judith became hostess to five very strange dinner guests - and was made to guess their quirks!

Richard Leith and Jack Southee, both having been on the Repertory stage in the past, were equally as flexible in a comedy setting. They both produced some side-achingly funny scenes, most memorably their interaction at a 'nudist beach', an image which will no doubt linger in the minds of many who attended.

In the end it was Jay Bardell, an Improv newcomer, who won the most points once all the rounds had finished. All four actors performed admirably, and special mention must be made to the amazing audience members who provided many of the suggestions that formed our evening's skits.

With the first Improv of this year under our belt, we are eagerly anticipating the next.

Announcements will also be made in due course regarding the auditions for our next production, so there's plenty to look out for.

(Wanganui Midweek 10/3/16)