By David Walters
This is loads of fun, a great bargain for your entertainment budget for both you and your kids, as well as completely involving and entertaining if your child has even the slightest bent for the theatrical.
Freestyle Repertory Theatre presents THEATRESPORTS as an improv show pitting two teams (Brendan Goggins, Morgan Przekurat and Laura Livingston, Laura Valpey) to be more creative than the other and then asking the audience to choose who was funnier, more imaginative and entirely engaging, i.e. the winner.
The show is hosted by the referee, Mike Durkin, who does a great job of breaking the ice with the audience and eliciting responses from both parents and kids. Audience suggestions then become the springboard to the skits that come flying out of the actor’s minds.
Audience members are also invited up on the stage to fully participate in the creative process, shouting out words that turn the scene in a new direction, or guiding the actor’s like puppets around the stage causing comedic chaos for the actors and the direction of the story. The kids really get into it and really become part of the entertainment. Able to incorporate whatever is going on around them, the actors brought on stage a toddler, who couldn’t sit still that ended up being a catalyst to moving a skit forward. Creativity abounds.
Each show is completely different, using various improv scenarios, so there’s no telling what you’re going be entertained with. When I attended, some of the improvs were: tag team monologue, finish the story, two-person body parts, remote control storytelling, puppet master and emotion isolation.
Your kids will have a great time. It’s a wonderful way to start a Sunday off with the family. You’ll be glad you went.
Freestyle Repertory Theatre in THEATRESPORTS at the Gallery Players space, 199 14th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn.
It’s a different show every month and fun for all ages. No reservations are necessary.
Sundays at Noon (show is about an hour)
Kids $10 – Parents FREE
No reservations required
Only once a month, so mark your calendar
2018 Schedule: September 30, October 28, December 2
2019 Schedule: January 27, February 24, March 17, April 14, May 19
