"Wish You Were Here" at Strike Theater

"A one act improvised comedy about loss and friendship. Grief is sad. And funny. And everything else." Strike Theater's latest show, Wish You Were Here, is funny and silly, and also kind of profound in the way that it shows people grieving as a part of normal life, with nothing resolved or closed by the end of it. I discovered through Family Dinner that long-form is my favorite kind of improv, because I love watching characters and relationships develop in a satisfying way throughout the course of the evening. That's definitely true here as well; in fact I wish there were a second act because there were several relationships established that I'd like to see developed further. But as it is, Wish You Were Here is a funny and bittersweet hour of an improvised dramedy. Only two performances remain - Friday and Saturday. Click here for more info and to purchase the $5-10 tickets.

Fringe Festival 2015: "Manners and Misconduct: Improvised Jane Austen"

Day: 2

Show: 6

Title: Manners and Misconduct: Improvised Jane Austen

Category: Comedy

By: Burnt Nightingale Productions

Created by: Burnt Nightingale Productions

Location: Illusion Theater

Summary: A nine-woman cast improvises a Jane Austen-esque story based on a title suggested on Facebook or Twitter and names suggested by the audience.

Highlights: The play I saw was titled Vanity and Virtue - it sounds like a book Jane Austen would have written, doesn't it? The story of the Pembletons and the Sethwaites (there was some confusion about this suggested name) includes all of the requirements of a Jane Austen novel - cousins, a flighty sister, a bookish sister, visits to the country, a scandal, an eccentric aunt, a hidden fortune, sudden proposals, walks in the garden, and witty dialogue. All of the women in the cast (half of whom play men) are fantastic improvisors and play off of each other well. And they speak in (slightly modernized) 19th Century language. What else is there to say - it's fresh, funny, and very Jane Austen.