IMPROMPTU SPLENDOR created by Matt Baram, Ron Pederson and Naomi Snieckus. At Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace. August 7 at 8:30 pm, August 9 at 2:30 pm, August 11 at 6:30 pm, August 13 at 10:30 pm, August 15 at 4:30 pm, August 16 at 6:30 pm. See listing.
Think it’s a challenge to put on one new SummerWorks show? Then how about six? That’s what Impromptu Splendor is doing in their series of completely improvised productions that are each inspired by a different playwright.[rssbreak]
Since last September, Matt Baram, Ron Pederson and Naomi Snieckus have mounted weekly full-length shows at the Comedy Bar based on everyone from Chekhov and Wilde to hometown greats like Judith Thompson and George F. Walker.
The shows began at a comedy venue, and Baram and Snieckus are probably best known as Second City alumni, Pederson from MADtv.
But all three are also theatre-school-trained and continue to do straight theatre. They hope their inclusion in SummerWorks helps bridge the two audiences.
“Often in improv, performers are afraid of silence,” says Pederson, who came up with the idea when he moved to Toronto last year and fine-tuned it with the others.
“We try to let the silences just be. When you see a regular play, even when people are talking over each other and there are lots of jokes, there’s still silence. Stillness can be as captivating as a funny line. The jokes find us in different ways.”
The three light up when they talk about their research process. For the weekly shows, they sit down (it helps that they live together), provide wine and cheese or nachos if there’s a guest, and pore through a work by the chosen playwright, pulling apart language, structure, archetypes, dialogue. Individually, they comb through other texts and plumb YouTube clips for classic interpretations.
Each show is structured like a work by the playwright. For instance, their take on Judith Thompson – one of the writers they’re interpreting during SummerWorks – features lots of monologues and gritty characters.
“Also, if I know I’m doing Thompson, I’m going to wear clothes that make me feel like I’m in one of her plays,” says Snieckus. “I’m not going to wear a corset I’d save that for Chekhov or…”
“…more formal occasions,” adds Baram, with perfect timing.
The three claim they want to convince audiences that they’ve just stumbled into some off-Broadway theatre where what they’re seeing really could be a play by, say, Clifford Odets or Bertolt Brecht.
“We usually begin each show by saying something like, ‘Impromptu Splendor brings you the Clifford Odets that was never written.'”
And don’t worry if you’ve never heard of a particular playwright beforehand. At the recent Chicago Improv Fest, the three teamed up with SCTV alumni Joe Flaherty to do a Michel Tremblay-inspired play.
“Initially people were wary because they didn’t know Tremblay’s work that well,” says Snieckus. “But after the show, they left wanting to research him and his plays. Which really is the best compliment.”
Additional audio clips
Impromptu Splendor on impromptu sets and music:
On how each SummerWorks performance will be an opening and closing night:
