Shellie Turner
In Motion Staff Writer
During finals, most Daytona State students put pencil to paper or scantron, or answer questions with the click of a mouse.
Theater students do things differently.
In April, the Gillespy Theatre at the News-Journal Center was the setting for Improv Night. Students from the Creative Improvisation: Innovation for Theater and the Real World course performed various skits as part of their final project of the semester. Theater Director Samantha Stern lent her comedic chops as the gracious, and witty, host for the evening.
An orchestra rehearsal in the first skit had half of the students, and one audience member, acting as musical instruments with the other half as the musicians. Sound effects from the booth in the theater drove the direction of the skit, forcing the students to quickly contort their bodies into various musical instruments including impressive handstands. The musicians themselves added to the hilarity with facial expressions and exaggerated movements.
Improv is different from scripted comedy because mostly everything is made up on the fly. As suggestions came from the audience, performers had to react quickly to put on a quality performance. And they didn’t disappoint. In a fashion similar to the show “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?,” students had to shout out names of dogs in rapid succession. The “Emotional Rollercoaster” skit had them going through a wide range of emotions, traveling to other countries, and impersonating celebrities in the span of about two minutes.
Before the performance began, audience members were asked to write down a quote from their favorite movie, book or television show on a slip of paper. “Blind Lying” incorporated those quotes into a tale of a father-daughter day at the zoo, comically exposing the father’s secret romance with the daughter’s teacher.
These talented students poured their hearts and souls into their performances. All their hard work clearly paid off when the Gillespy Theater filled with laughter and applause at the night’s end. While it was for a grade, they put on a wonderful performance and had fun doing it.
That’s how theater students do it.