Improv: A Science Fiction Thriller
Where: Intrepid Theatre Club, 1609 Blanshard St.
When: Continues 8 p.m. nightly through Saturday
Tickets: $15 at door or www.ticketrocket.org
In improv theatre, few things are more challenging than recreating the eerie silence of outer space.
That’s because the performers must relax and … well, shut up for a change.
So says improv master Dave Morris, who this week leads Paper Street Theatre in concocting sci-fi thrillers on the fly at Intrepid Theatre Club.
“One of the hardest things has been to get the improvisers to understand that silence is an ‘offer.’ If your partner isn’t saying anything, it doesn’t mean they’re panicking. Don’t stomp all over it and ruin the silence,” Morris said.
Improv: A Science Fiction Thriller attempts to recreate the spooky atmosphere of such space-thriller flicks as Alien, Moon, Solaris and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Morris will join an eight-person cast of jumpsuited improvisers, with soundtracks being created in real time with an analogue modular synthesizer.
The show caps Paper Street Theatre’s season of movie spoofs. The others were An Improvised Quentin Tarantino (a hit at the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival) and An Improvised John Hughes.
The latest show is propelled by audience suggestions and the barest bones of a narrative. The performers only know they’re a crew in space that will encounter something or other. Probably an alien, maybe a space monster. In true improv fashion, they make it up as they go along.
Like any sci-fi space flick, the emphasis will be on atmosphere. That’s where Dan Godlovitch comes in. The DJ and musician — who works for a Victoria company that produces audio effects — will improvise soundscapes on a portable synthesizer the size of a suitcase. To do this, Godlovitch, also garbed in a Paper Street Theatre jumpsuit, will be plugging and unplugging red and yellow patch cords.
“It’s like I know the shape and terrain of the country that I’m going to be traversing. But I decide which direction I’m going to travel depending on what the actors are going to be doing,” he said.
Godlovitch is known around Victoria’s club scene as part of a two-man DJ team, The Laggards. As well, he’s a member of The Krells, an experimental music collective that uses a 1970s Buchla synthesizer.
Paper Street’s aim is to create improvised theatre that feels like scripted work.
On a good night, they make it look easy. But it’s not.
For the first time, the company will offer a public workshop on how to do improv sci-fi theatre on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., at Intrepid Theatre Club (to register, email improv@gmail.com).
Morris says the workshop, intended for people with some performance experience, will cover the four basic steps. First, the improviser must focus on language — vocal styles, vocabulary and (if needed) accents. Then there’s the physical aspect. For instance, says Morris, in outer space one doesn’t just pour a cup of coffee — there might be buttons to push.
Step 3 is putting it all together by recreating fairy tales in the style. “For instance, what would Jack and the Beanstalk be like if it was a sci-fi thriller?” Morris said. And finally, sci-fi movie tropes will be explored: encountering a monster, the crew member who goes crazy and so on.
Next season Paper Street Theatre will explore non-movie themes. Plans include a Halloween horror show and a Christmas entertainment tentatively titled Miracle on Paper Street.
Morris says if there’s one thing audiences should keep in mind, it’s that improv theatre performers don’t know what’s going to happen next.
“They’re in the exact same position as you, the audience member. That’s something people tend to forget.”