IMPROV for Kids
The Improvisors
Circa Theatre, Wellington
29 September – 11 October 11am (no Sunday performance)
$10 per person
It sounds like a recipe for disaster – no script, no plot – just four performers, an empty stage and a room full of kids waiting to be entertained. But this is the essence of an IMPROV for Kids show where the young audience provide the ideas and the performers mould these into a madcap hour of laughs and wild imagination.
I’m liking
Staged by The Improvisors, local experts in improvised comedy (think theatresports type games), performers Kenny King, Ian Harcourt, Pete Doile and Cath Hardy skillfully delivered an entertaining show that covered both the expected kids gags: annoying siblings, farts, poop, and tantrums, and the unexpected. Floor sanding, colossal ducks and Aztec zombies were just a few of the topics the actors were thrown and handled hilariously.
As expected there was lots of audience participation with the kids ideas, and in some cases the kids themselves, taking centre stage. While this made for an engaging show, it also meant that at one point the kids nearly took over the stage. However the errant zombies were dealt with quickly and wittily, and the show went on.
The conclusion
The highlight for my three year old was a super speedy retelling of Sleeping Beauty, while my seven year old was thrilled to deliver her much-rehearsed Donald Duck impersonation on stage. My highlight was having an hour when instead of trying to kill each other, my kids were killing themselves laughing. A good result!
