‘The Deconstruction’ is a long-form improv format created and developed in the United States in the 1990s, a format which uses a combination of realistic, thematic and absurd scenes to allow performers to explore relationships and offer pointed commentary.  This Fringe Festival offering from BaseJump Improv marks the first time this improv concept has been performed in New Zealand.

The basic premise of the format is that we begin with a longer scene, before moving on to several shorter scenes which deconstruct and explore the initial offering, with frequent returns to the original scene as events develop or escalate.

We are welcomed by the founder of BaseJump, James Smith, who warms the audience up and explains how he believes this format helps explore the inner contradictions that exist between us, before eight performers (six male, two female) take to the stage.

As an audience, we are asked to provide a setting in the household, which is unanimously decided to be the bathroom. The initial set-up scene sees a father and daughter, played by Jonathan Mandeno and Olivia Wills, going through a conflict, as a proud father is called out for being over-bearing and very much in the daughter’s way whilst she brushes her teeth.

From here, we see a series of scenes play out, ranging from revolutionaries with blunt utensils to a woman wanting to return her lasagne in a restaurant. Every three scenes or so, we return to the father and daughter from the opening scene as they develop their story further. In this first set this involves the daughter saying how she wants to move away and follow her dreams whilst the father grows ever more in despair at the thought of losing his daughter, having already broken up with his wife.

Whilst the emotional stakes rise between the central duo, the subsequent scenes take on a more absurdist tone, which provides some moments of humour amidst an increasingly dramatic father/daughter central dynamic.

However, there is a sense – that only becomes stronger on reflection and in comparison to the second set – that several of the scenes in the first set don’t seem to link up clearly to the first scene, resulting in the deconstruction format falling a little flat. In one or two of the scenes, the two performers don’t gel or seem to be on the same kind of wavelength, and this feels awkward to watch.

After twenty-five minutes the set draws to a close through a series of rapid-fire scenarios before ending back in time, when the father and daughter relationship is happier.

Following an unexpected ten minute interval, the performance really begins to find its feet in the second set. There is a slight change in line-up with two men from the first set swapping out. With the audience providing the setting of a beach cabana, our two central performers, Jamie Hoare and Tristram Domican, offer themselves as being on a couple’s retreat in Bali, free from the travails of everyday life and applying sun cream to protect themselves from the heat.

Throughout the second set, the various other scenes really grasp upon all the offers provided in that first scene, taking threads such as mortgages and skin application and mining them for humour in ever-more nonsensical fashion. The central relationship doesn’t quite reach the same level of emotional depth as in the first set, but there is plenty of comedy in its place.

As an ensemble, the performers all seem at ease and comfortable playing with each other. There are a couple of real stand-outs. Cailin Neal frequently provides stand-out links from the initial scene as she confidently pushes the boundaries of absurdist comedy. Jamie Hoare elevates the central relationship of the second set, whilst Duncan Ballinger provides strong connections and energy in all of his scenes. They are well supported by Jonathan Mandeno, Olivia Wills, Jan Feld, Tristram Domican and Joel Luscombe, with Tony Yuile and Richard Hoffman adding in their own fresh ideas in the second set.

This is a format of improv that I’d be keen to see explored and experimented with more in New Zealand. Its long-form structure allows elements of absurdism to spin off the central set-up scene, whilst juxtaposing that with emotional depth at its core.  

I’m sure that as this ensemble goes through the remainder of the season, they will go from strength to strength, if the second half of this opening night is anything to go by. The Fringe Festival is the perfect testing ground for these deconstructions and Hardcore Truths to unfold. 

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