TO BE OR NOT TO BE AT THE IMPROVISED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
THE IMPROVISED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY (submitted photo)
OSKALOOSA, IA — Improvisation and Shakespeare – two words that don’t seem to go together, but as The Improvised Shakespeare Company proves, actually do. After a successful run at the Civic Center of Des Moines in May, the quirky quintet is storming the George Daily Auditorium on Monday, October 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Based on one audience suggestion (a title for a play that has yet to be written) The Improvised Shakespeare Company creates a fully improvised play in Elizabethan style. Each of the players has brushed up on his “thee’s” and “thou’s” to bring you an evening of off-the-cuff comedy using the language and themes of William Shakespeare. Any hour could be filled with power struggles, star-crossed lovers, sprites, kings, queens, princesses, sword-play, rhyming couplets, asides, insults, persons in disguise and all that we’ve come to expect from the pen of the Great Bard. The night could reveal a tragedy, comedy, or history. Nothing is planned-out, rehearsed, or written. Each play is completely improvised, so each play is entirely new!
In 2005, Blaine Swen founded the Improvised Shakespeare Company in Chicago. After a successful fall run on the Donny’s Skybox stage at The Second City the show was taken to IO Chicago. It has consistently played to sold out houses for the last three years. The group frequents New York City, performing engagements Off-Broadway for stars from SNL, Mad TV, and the hit tv series The Office.
Don’t know Shakespeare? Don’t worry! According to Centerstage Chicago, “set aside your preconceptions about Shakespearean theater. It’s not all pretentious, puffy-garbed players trained to speak foreign English at the Raised Hand School of Acting. IO Chicago’s rollicking hit show is smart and knowing enough to delight Elizabethan drama fans and charming enough to win over the most avowed Anglophobes.”
The performance will run approximately 75 minutes and costs $20 for adults and $10 for students. Tickets, including group rates, are available through the George Daily box office at (641) 672-0799 or online at www.georgedaily.org.
