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Local Feature  Posted on: 06/06/07 Written by: Jill U. Adams, Contributing Writer email: news@spotlightnews.com Acting games for fun and fathers Ever wondered if your life has the makings of a musical? If you’re game, Wit & Will’s comedy troupe will give it a try. “Your Life, The Musical” is one of many games that the troupe performs at its monthly improvisation shows, said actor Janet Womachka. “We pick an audience member and ask them 10 questions.” The questions are about significant others, hobbies, and embarrassing moments, she said. “We create a musical about their life on the spot,” Womachka said. This weekend’s show will be at Zuzu’s Wonderful Life, a café and performance space that spans two row houses, giving it an address of 299-301 Hamilton Street (between Swan and Dove) in Albany. You can enjoy coffee, tea, and dessert during the show. First, the players explain a little about what they’re doing and then the games begin. The troupe tries to involve the audience as much as possible, taking suggestions for characters or scenarios and sometimes inviting them onto the stage. What results are skits, anywhere from three to 30 minutes long, that may include song and dance in addition to dialogue and pratfalls. “The shows are funny,” said player Jim Yeara, who is a founder of the troupe. He likens the show to television’s “Whose Line is it Anyway?” “What you’re seeing is a different kind of acting,” Yeara said. “It’s not scripted.” Another game the troupe plays is called Blind Freeze. Audience members call out physical positions for two players, who then have to create a scene that justifies those positions. “Then, someone yells ‘freeze,’” said Yeara, and a third actor replaces one of the two on stage-- taking their frozen position -- and the action continues. In addition to comedy, Wit & Will Theatre performs Shakespeare in the summers as well as straight plays and original works. Womachka wrote and produced a short play last year entitled, “Left Behind.” The serious work is on the fringy side, said Womachka, which she sees as a good thing. “It lets people have a voice,” she said. The monthly improvisation shows are fun, but they’re also good training for the actors. Yeara said the games are “basically acting exercises, adapted and put together as a stage show.” Yeara uses the very same games with the high school actors he works with in his day job at Bethlehem Central High School, where he teaches English and drama, and directs Theatre Without a Net’s annual Shakespeare play. Actors need to use all their senses while performing and not operate by rote, he said. The exercises, often used as a warm-up, are a way to stay focused on what’s going on in the moment and to pay attention to the other actors on the stage. “It’s like scales to a musician or push-ups to an athlete,” Yeara said. Womachka has performed with Wit & Will for six of the group’s almost 10 years. Currently at seven players, the acting troupe works as a collective, without a hierarchy of any kind. “The troupe is stronger than it’s been in a long time,” she said. Audiences are solid as well, often filling Zuzu’s for the comedy shows. “It’s really been growing and surprising us,” said Womachka. “It’s exciting. We create every thing out of nothing,” said Womachka. “We just use our imagination and the imagination of the audience. We believe our audience is smart.” Wit & Will Theatre presents, “Who’s Your Daddy? and Other Paternal Humor,” on Saturday, June 9, at 8 p.m. at Zuzu’s Wonderful Life. For reservations (and $2 off the ticket price), call 439-7698 or online at www.witandwill.com. Tickets are $10 ($6 for students/seniors) at the door. You can contact news@spotlightnews.com with any questions. Also, feel free to post comments below. Comments powered by Disqus |
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