Overall, I enjoyed the improv show on Saturday. The cast of twelve was varied in personality and levels of outgoingness that made them each feel like a valuable member. Unfortunately, the members chosen for each skit did not always balance each other out, and I’m not sure if this was because they were determined randomly or if it was just an error of judgement on the director’s part. During the first round of the “blindfold” activity, Krystal and Olivia were paired together. Neither of them came across as particularly confident, especially compared to other cast members like Jerry and Ray, and because of their lack of initiate, the skit dragged with repetitions and contradictions. However, this is the one example I can remember where the match-up of the actors caused a significant problem.
The skits I found the strongest were The Laughing Circle and the second round of The Dating Game. In the former, it seemed that having time in advance to create a loose character to build on helped the actors to come up with ideas when it came around to them, even if some were one-note. In terms of The Dating Game, Nan and Aaron had great chemistry, giving just the right number of hints to their true identities. On the flip side, the first round of this activity was one of my least favorite parts of the whole show. Julia Shatalov gave a surprisingly good portrayal of Santa, but Helen took a bit to fit into her role, and, most significantly, it felt like Reí didn’t even try, to be blunt. When Sam asked him where he saw himself (as Julia) in five years, the word “Broadway” immediately jumped to my mind, but the prolonged silence of waiting for Rei to give any kind of answer made everything super awkward. Still, even with moments with a distinct lack of laughter, I found a smile on my face for the majority of the show, and considering the limited amount of time these high schoolers had to get used to improv, I felt satisfied with the experience, and at times pleasantly surprised.
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