THE IMPROVISORS in HISTORY NEVER REPEATS
Circa Two, Circa Theatre, 1 Taranaki St, Waterfront, Wellington
01/05/2012 - 05/05/2012
NZ International Comedy Festival 2012
Production Details
The Improvisors make the historical hysterical
The Improvisors have a real history in Wellington Comedy and to celebrate their 22nd year in business they are taking on history itself in a brand new show created especially for the NZ International Comedy Festival..
HISTORY NEVER REPEATS takes a theme from the audience and features it in a series of interwoven stories that travel back and forth through time. Each story features further audience input along the way to keep the stories fresh and funny and put the performers on their toes. “We’re going to start well back in time and move into the future and then head back again,” says Improvisors Artistic Director Greg Ellis. “But we have no idea what exact time periods the audience will send us to, what links will be made from period to period or what the overall story will be – that’s the audience’s challenge to us.”
In the past The Improvisors have taken inspiration from such heavyweights as “Glee”, “High School Musical”, Andrew Lloyd Webber or “Harry Potter” but this time the show’s inspiration is a little more literary. David Mitchell’s time-travelling genre-bending novel “Cloud Atlas” has sown the seed this time. “But audiences don’t need to run out and read the book for homework,” says Ellis. “Whether you know the book or not it doesn’t really matter. The most important thing is that you’re in for a great laugh”
Although the final product is entirely up in the air each night what the audience can depend on is that it will be funny. The Improvisors have been performing in Wellington theatres since 1990 and have made a bit of a tradition about coming up with entirely new formats for each NZ International Comedy Festival. “We were around for the first ever Comedy Festival and we have developed a loyal audience who like to see us try new stuff,” says Ellis. HISTORY NEVER REPEATS is the latest addition to The Improvisors history of fresh, unpredictable and always funny shows and premieres 1st of May.
As part of the NZ International Comedy Festival 2012
THE IMPROVISORS IN HISTORY NEVER REPEATS
WELLINGTON
Dates: Tue 1 – Sat 5 May, 7:30pm
Venue: Circa Theatre, 1 Taranaki St, City
Tickets: Adults $18, Conc. $15, Groups 8+ $15
Bookings: 04 801 7992 or www.circa.co.nz
Duration: 1 hour +
For a full line up of performances, booking details & more information, visit www.comedyfestival.co.nz
1hr +
Hilarious as always
Review by Maryanne Cathro 02nd May 2012
The Improvisors take on the entire history of humanity; well from 20,000BC to the future, anyway. This is an ambitious feat, given the knowledge required of the players and audience to fill out the details with some semblance of credibility.
One of our audience felt it could include the point at which our ancestral fish creatures left the sea for dry land. This was charitably pointed out to be a somewhat earlier in history, but provided a satisfying running joke nevertheless.
The premise is simple: the black walls of Circa 2 have been chalked with a rather subjective timeline of the period of history, as above. Five points in history are negotiated with the audience including a few extra details, and then each point in history is improvised, from earliest forward.
In the second half, having had ten whole minutes to collaborate off stage, the players attempt to tie these points of history together in a reverse, continuous narrative.
What I find so interesting about this approach is the blend of the spontaneous improv in the first half and the more coherent approach of the second.
The ambition of combining improv with known history meant a certain amount of confusion and some loose ends. Hilarious as always, these first half retellings were entertaining to watch but still incomplete. However, trusting the ability of masters Greg Ellis, Deana Elvins and Ian Harcourt* to steer the show to a satisfying conclusion paid off.
The second half was as clever as it was satisfying, as the six players wove the strands of each set of characters together, moving backwards through time, to show how an ice age, brought about by the permanent crashing of the internet by a woman in New Zealand attempting to upload her holiday snaps from Hamilton in the 1970’s, was really caused by the invention of the wheel by the man who built Stone Henge. Really. One could almost believe it was true.
As Greg Ellis reminds us, an improv show, like history, never repeats. This makes a rare opportunity for a reviewer to repeat gag lines without giving the show away. I will chuckle for days over the man who built Stone Henge being an Hengineer. And the demise of the disembodied head of a certain computer billionaire by slow mo iPod to the temple (said iPod being taken from iPod Henge) was classic. But of course, to truly appreciate the joke, you had to be there.
So, be there, some time before May 5th and you too can appreciate that History Never Repeats.
*No programme so unsure who the other three excellent performers were
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
Comments
nic gorman May 2nd, 2012
Sorry about the lack of programme. The other three performers on the night, and for the season are Alice Canton, Daniel Pengelly, and Simon Young.