Impromptu Splendour: splendid improv
Toronto: What a fabulous, fun, outrageous idea! Take three extraordinarily talented improv actors and have them perform a long-form improvisation in the style of a certain playwright. Throughout their six shows at the SummerWorks festival, this cast of three who make up Impromptu Splendor will perform in styles as diverse as George F. Walker to Judith Thompson.
The first performance was in the style of Russian playwright Anton Chekhov – thus, we had the immense privilege of witnessing the opening and closing night of Impromptu Splendour Chekovian-style.
Our actors arrived dressed in Russian-inspired costumes on a set with some Chekhovian essentials: table and chairs, alcohol, tumblers and a pistol. They quickly explained the premise for Impromptu Splendour and asked the audience for words reminiscent of Chekhov's plays. Uplifting words spilled out – bleak, depressing, winter, alcohol, cherry orchard, seagull, cold, Russian. Matt Baram stopped the audience and declared that tonight's show would be “Alcoholic Winter.”
The rather ridiculous plot that emerged involved a young, newly married couple (Baram and Snieckus) in their family cottage and the husband's brother (Pederson) who had lost everything on his trip from Moscow including his luggage, his wife in a fire, his child by drowning... you get the idea.
We were laughing before the lights even came up as Snieckus sobbed loudly in the dark. She started the drinking when the lights rose – when Baram and Pederson got started on the booze, they ran out of “alcohol” about halfway through the performance. But the characters didn't need much alcohol for the wife to command her brother-in-law to perform a merry Russian folk dance or for the two brothers to recite long-lost Pushkin poetry read to them by their father or for the brother and sister-in-law to snog secretly behind the back of the husband leading to ultimately hysterical tragedy.
As one of the actors announced at the opening night party (there's one every night at Taro on Queen Street West) – it's a wonderful thing for improvisation to be included in SummerWorks this year. I couldn't agree more – and you should take this opportunity witness Impromptu Splendour for yourself. In fact, you can go more than once – it's a different show every night!
Credits: Impromptu Splendour produced by The National Theatre of the World; created and performed by Matt Baram, Naomi Snieckus and Ron Pederson; stage management by Christina Cicko.