We were proud to be a Independent Weekly Best Bet in May of 2006 where Byron Woods called us "one of the region's finest improv groups". Region probably refers to the entire Northern Hemisphere.
Byron also gave a full review of inDecision Theater in the May 11, 2005 Independent Weekly.
Two strong recommendations for the weekend ahead--neither of which was probably already on your radar. The first involves inDecision Theatre [sic], an emerging troupe of improvisationalists whose brand of humor at its best takes a page from early Norman Lear and reminds us of an oft-forgotten principle: the stronger the characters, the stronger the comedy. The highlight from their most recent night at Common Ground Theater, that funky little black box out Hillsborough Road, was a long-form piece called "Couples Therapy." In it, a sextet took an improbable list of individual frailties (from messiness to erectile dysfunction) from the audience and slowly crafted them, through a series of incremental scenes, into a series of colliding human relationships. Out of them we learned this much: The more actors invest in characters and situations, the more we do as well. What could have remained merely physical humor became the trigger for a loss of intimacy between a longsuffering Deborah Klinger and Lewis Caviness. Andi Sattinger's total household disorganization first threatened Philip Semanchuk before before opening him up to the creative possibilities of truly random access. Oliver Vest's fussy, proud--but sexually disadvantaged--middle-aged man was a character study (and a perfect foil) to Lisa Klein's earthier hairdresser.
With each of these, at first we laughed. Then we actually started caring, as each twosome attempted to negotiate the issues that were getting in the way of their relationships.
That's what we call good acting--and better than usual comedy. The clincher: at $4 a pop these tix are a steal.
And the following items from our mailbag made us feel good.
DP wrote –I want to put in writing how much I enjoyed the performance last night. You were all wonderful!!!!!!! I especially liked the telephone thing and Eeek! Bang! I laughed out loud sooooo many times all night!!
All of you work together so well, so seamlessly, in so many different situations that it really does seem to be rehearsed. Another thing that I found to be really wonderful is/was that each of you is able to truly transform into different characters. So, in a nutshell you gave a fabulous performance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much!!!!!!!!
B wrote –I really enjoyed Eeek! Bang! this Saturday. It stood out among the improv I have seen because the entire story was so character-centric. Most improv out there is more like a bunch of comedians improvising skits, whereas Eeek! Bang! was more about the development of interesting characters and their story. Lewis Caviness did a wonderful job on the detective because he didn't force the story, he forced everyone to develop their characters and come up with their own plot developments. The detective could have just as easily been a ringleader that controlled the direction of the story, but Lewis pulled back and let things develop at the pace of a good drama. Thanks again for a wonderful show.
KH wrote –You guys rock!