Improv Theater by OG Players: So Fun
Ok I’m not guaranteeing that you will cry every last bit of mascara off your face, but it’s been done before. There’s really nothing like being in a live audience for an improv show, and this cast is A+++++. Some of the best in all the land. Highly recommend!
From BATS:
Summer in San Francisco is coming, whether we have enough layers or not. As the fog rolls in, one place that promises to be warm is the Bayfront Theatre, where BATS Improv’s wildly popular format Super Scene – Summer Blockbusters returns on Saturdays in July. The theme leans into another summer tradition: going to the movies.
Show director Rebecca Stockley describes Super Scene as “a fast-paced, rip-roaring theatre competition”. Five directors create five completely improvised stories, each with a unique tone or genre, But there’s a catch – stories unfold one scene at a time, round by round. After each round, the audience selects, with their applause, the stories that continue, and which story is eliminated. This process continues, and the scenes evolve, until the final round, where only one story remains and the SUPER SCENE is performed. According to Stockley, “Super Scene is so fun because there’s a variety of stories and the audience gets to decide what they want to see more of.”
Super Scene is different from most shows at BATS in that it’s directed improv: one player has an inspiration for the type of story they want the players to create. They stand outside of the action, occasionally offering guidance, but riding the same wave of instantaneous storytelling with the actors and audience. Inevitably the stories will go in some direction the director didn’t expect. It’s also a cooperative competition: the players are directing their own story and acting in the others but the focus is always on creating the best show, not on winning.
How Super Scene came to BATS involves a bit of an odyssey, and reveals the international scope of improv and BATS’ connection to that world wide community. The format was created in Calgary at the Loose Moose Theatre, and was introduced to two BATS Company Players, William Hall and Tim Orr who were invited (by a couple of German improvisers) to perform Super Scene at an Improv Festival in Amsterdam in 2012. William and Tim brought the format back to BATS and it has been performed here nearly every year since.
For the July shows, audiences can expect to see a variety of different movie styles; action, romance, crime drama… anything is possible. Whatever the stories are, a rollicking good time (with fresh popcorn) awaits! Super Scene plays Saturdays July 5, 12, 19 and 26 at 8pm at BATS Improv at Fort Mason in San Francisco.
See other shows this month at BATS — and use code TAILORMYSTAY10 to get 10% off your tickets!!!