By Sasha Moedt (The Cascade) – Email
Date Posted: September 22, 2011
Print Edition: September 21, 2011
TheatreSports, the Vancouver Improv League, is back in town – and they’re coming to UFV. This Friday the TheatreSports crew will be at the Chilliwack campus for both a workshop and an improv show.
In previous years, TheatreSports has been a popular event with UFV students because of their high energy atmosphere and quick humour. Having been acting for 30 years, they’ve developed an innovative group, and are renowned for the fast-paced, spontaneous show, with razor-sharp wit and clever performers.
TheatreSports is a Vancouver-based company that runs improv musicals, workshops and training, show s with audience-actor interactions, rookie nights and showdowns. Their new location recently opened on Granville Island, right on the water. The performing space is fully licensed, with a lounge and spacious seating for an audience of 180. Shows are often performed in front of a full house.
In addition to performing shows, TheatreSports also takes on celebrations, conventions, fundraisers and, most interestingly, meetings: clearly their interactive creativity and engaging humour must be useful for something other than entertainment. They’ll MC a wedding or give a motivational speech. TheatreSports will also offer shows specially tailored to the audience; for example their ‘Much Ado About (your name here)’ performance takes on a series of improvised Shakespearian scenes based on yourself or your company.
For students who would like to hone their own acting and improv skills, a workshop is set to take place in Chilliwack at 3 p.m. on September 23. The workshop, taught by a few of the troupe members at the TheatreSports League, includes looking at the fundamentals, the rules and the techniques of improv. The leaders of this workshop will be experienced professionals of the art. It is best suited for the beginner improviser as participants will be guided through various theatre games to build and enhance skills needed for improv. Building blocks for confidence, understanding improvisation, approaching the audience, and expressing creativity will be addressed.
With a blossoming theatre department at UFV, students might want to get out and sharpen their comic-weapons for battle in case things get competitive. If TheatreSports is well known for anything, it’s the improv showdowns. The workshop isn’t just held for theatre students, though; if you want to build confidence and work on your timing, look into it.
In past shows, people are pulled from the audience to join the troupe on stage. A warning: don’t sit in the front row if you’re a shy one. The interactions with the audience are great, though as people might be able to call suggestions for topics as well as participate.
A saying of theirs is ‘laugh responsibly.’ Can people laugh themselves stupid? Will they let you drive after the show? I suppose you’ll have find out.
The show runs at 7:30 p.m. on Friday evening; tickets are priced at $18 for the general public, and $14 for students. The workshop, held at 3 p.m., is $15. To reserve tickets, phone 604-795-2814 or email theatre@ufv.ca.
So check out the characters at TheatreSports – it should be fun.
