Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

Going to an improv show that says there is potential audience participation can seem extremely daunting. One sits at the edge of their seat before the show starts worried if he is going to be the one selected. He doesn’t want to be embarrassed. Anything is possible in an improv show, unlike a good old-fashioned normal play. Sometimes you have to be brave because you never know what is going to happen.

THIS IS STORYBOX is an interactive performance that was produced by Ignited States this past weekend. Storybox is a style of improvisation that was created by Jeff Wirth in 2002. It sounds bizarre in description. However, it was absolutely incredible, touching, and funny.

In this form of improv, three audience members volunteer to be the protagonist of their own story. They are told that they are not supposed to do anything, but to just go with the flow. As they stand up there, a story is centered around each of them. The members of the ensemble (inter-actors, as they like to be called) are standing by completely alert and ready to create a plot based on what their fellow inter-actors are establishing. Suddenly a full plot is created with a conflict and these actors figure out a way to get the plot to resolve.

In this particular performance, the first story was about a woman who was fighting with her ex-husband over custody of their daughter. The second story was about a gay man who was balancing pursuing his career of performing Shakespeare on the piano and his new romantic interest. The third story was about an elementary school teacher, her boyfriend, and her commitment to keeping order in classroom with parents. Another night, the stories are completely different. This particular night, the stories had a lot of humor, but people in the lobby who had attended the show on other nights said how some of the stories were incredibly intense and emotional. The beauty of improv is you never know what is going to happen.

The three audience volunteers were completely different people, so naturally the three stories were completely different as well. The inter-actors picked up quickly on their personalities when they were constructing a story around them.

Storybox is so fascinating because it is not like other improv where people are just being silly for the sake of being silly. In this, they had to listen so hard because the story was evolving right in front of them. They could not just zone out or create their own story that nothing to do with what their fellow members had established. Everything had to connect so they could not just decide to be completely random and out there for no particular reason. As a result, the funny moments were actually funny and the touching moments were actually touching.

As odd as it sounds, it was really a great way to spend a Saturday night. Hopefully Ignited States will start performing this technique more often because it really emphasized the beauty of live entertainment where anything is possible.