If you haven’t made it down to Chicago to catch a show by
The Improvised Shakespeare Company yet, you’re in luck, because they are coming to Traverse City.
The important stuff: the show is at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 20 at the Traverse City Opera House, part of the Auto-Owners Insurance Performing Arts 2011-2012 Series, and tickets ($20 to $30) are available at the box office or
online.
It’s a comedy show best enjoyed by those who also enjoy Shakespeare, as the references are a liberal mix of the Bard and Monty Python. The concept behind the Improvised Shakespeare Company is genius, as the cast takes one audience comment, and riffs on it for a whole hour of improvised Elizabethan comedy and drama. The comment is simple – a title for an as-yet unwritten Shakespeare play--and the cast develops the theme throughout the show, with motifs and characters from Shakespeare’s repertoire, and plenty of hilarity.
"We’ve grown in many of the ways that someone might expect: a greater facility with Elizabethan language; a better sense of Shakespearean character archetypes and plots; better listeners with richer reactions to discoveries within scenes," says founder Blaine Swen. "But most importantly, we continue to have more and more fun."
Centerstage Chicago calls the show a "modern tribute to the Bard that mixes Shakespearean language and a tone with heaping tablespoons of Monty Python-esque slapstick and wordplay. This indisputably great improv is fueled by smart plot development, stage chemistry and recognizable characters."
The group has taken home awards for 2010 Ensemble of the Year at the Chicago Improv Festival, Best Improv Group at the 2010 Emerging Comics of New York Awards, and Best Comedic Performance by a Group at the 2008 New York Nightlife Awards.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Blaine Swen, The Improvised Shakespeare Company
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