5...4...3...2... 1... Action!
8 Apr 2011
Welcome to Theatre Sports, an improvised show that is performed by actors that are originality personified. Theatre Sports has been running for 18 years this year and is ever evolving. Remember that every time you watch Theatre Sports, due to its improvised and unscripted nature, it'll be the first and last time that you'll see it. This in itself is a perfect reason to not only see it once, but twice...and then a third time of course.
Monika Roese, Anne Hirsch, Andrew Kerr, Leon Clingman
The audience basically decides on the show they will be seeing by the suggestions that they give. The actors don't pull people onto stage, they say that they will make fools of themselves and not us, however they do want suggestions no matter how outrageous and wacky they may seem to be.
The actors are split into groups and then each group "plays" a game and the audience members judge them. I have said before that The Kalk Bay theatre is like being at a dinner party and the intimacy that is involved in something like this proves that theory once again.
I think I was most surprised at how smart the actors must be to be able to be given any suggestion and immediately know how to roll with it. I spoke to some of the members of Theatre Sports afterwards and they said often they'll have no idea what something is and they will simply follow the lead of whoever may have some sort of idea.
Go completely out of the box
The actors range from 28-50 years old, but that's not to say that they refuse to take in anyone older or younger. They have courses for people who are interested in improvisation and they also do team-building for businesses. (I suppose there is no better way to bond as a team than to go completely out of the box.) But that is the beauty of it, without the bond that the actors have and the understanding within the team, Theatre Sports would not be the success and entertaining master piece that it is.
The Kalk Bay theatre has also introduced a deal, where you pay R100 for a beer, burger and the show. Now being a student I know a deal when I see one and that is brilliant. (It's only R90 for students.) They have also introduced a loyalty card, so if you go and see the show four times, you get the fifth show free. I could keep writing and tell you all about the show, in detail and the actors themselves. But why would I spoil it? If you watch the show you will be privileged enough to be able to mingle with the performers you have just seen and have a little chat to them to answer any of your own inquiries you may have.
I recommend Theatre Sports for anyone with stomach muscles strong enough to manage that amount of laughter and for those of you who enjoy the art of being originally funny.
