This duo, made up of Ele Stankiewicz and Marcel Blanch de Wilt from Sydney, Australia, along with their special guests Jennifer O’Sullivan and Matt Powell (Thursday night only), give the audience a warm welcome and a chance to get to know them all before launching into action.  From the receiving the audience’s anonymous writing of ‘first date’ style questions to the brief but informative explanation of their show style (for those of us new to improv), their conversational approach works well to engage the audience from the start.

Making this connection with the actors as people creates a familiarity that encourages us to enjoy their improv in the way good friends of improv actors do.

The players draw on the conversation for their cues, which leads to the improvised scenes feeling fluid rather than trying to shoehorn in cues, and offers a nice balance between the actors’ ‘real life’ stories and the improvised scenes.  The teams are able to constantly draw back on other skits, creating a narrative that flows together by the end of the performance.  It’s an insane narrative, but linked.  Characters leap in and out of different scenarios which leads to running gags and gives the illusion of an organised script.

One has to admire Powell for his consciousness of health and safety – realising he actually spits on his hand, he respectfully wipes it before continuing to shake hands with Stankiewicz as they play brother and sister.

Blanch de Wilt never misses a comic beat and Stankiewicz brings dynamic vocalisation and physicality to her characters.  O’Sullivan saunters smoothly between her roles. 

On occasion overpowering in volume, Bryce Halliday’s musical interaction is a complementary companion that helps set the tone and further define the mood of the scenes.  Similarly, Jaklene Vukasinovic’s lighting accents the scenes and transitions skilfully.

The Newlyweds and their guests succeed in loosely weaving the audience-driven questions and double-date conversations into the emerging scenes.  These skilled quick thinkers are not afraid to change direction in a scene if it calls for it and though some moments can draw out past the best ‘scene ender’ lines, they seamlessly move from one scene to another as if rehearsed.   Everyone knows when to jump in before another player has lost their rhythm.  Between then they display great non-verbal communication and really solid teamwork.

From a book entitled ‘Wrestling with Politics’ to referencing the ‘Cheese Cartel’ the group draw in the themes touched on throughout and wrap up the show with a series of short and punchy Chicago-style improvs that blend together a little too swiftly.  The Newlyweds are successful in their goal to break the ice and make everyone feel like friends, delivering an hour of entertainment one would love to return to and see again. 

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