Tucson’s Unscrewed Theater’s Improv Brings Serious Laughter
By Sara Castillo
Unscrewed Theater has been a fixture of Tucson, AZ since 2002 with its free–style form of entertainment called Improv. Improv became mainstream with the creation of TV’s Who’s Line Is It Anyway? hosted by Drew Carrey in 1998. Improv theater is different as the actors do not rely on sets, costumes, or even scripts. Every scene that is performed is a complete original that is created with the help of audience suggestions. Usually a small group of actors play these “games” under the guidance of a host, who runs the games, keeps track of the rules, and finds the suggestions from the audience. Each game is explained to the audience before the actors take their places and the audience watches while new characters and scenarios are crafted before their eyes.
Unscrewed Theater totes that it is family-friendly, being sure to advertise which performances are for families and which are for an older crowd. They even take it a step further in assure the audience of their family friendly stance that they have the “Hat of Shame” (boos and hisses are encouraged at its mention) which an actor or audience member will have to wear for breaking the rule of keeping things clean. In the spirit of that information I had my daughters ages 10, 8, and 5 accompany me to the show to see how committed they were to this attitude.
There are several “Teams” at Unscrewed Theater and we had the pleasure of seeing their House Team:, Not Burned Out Just Unscrewed. The players for the evening were Roseanne Cargo, Dawn McMillian, Anna Lepa, Jessica Spenny, and Cy Barlow with Rob Sparks playing host for the evening.Sparks kept the show moving along nicely and allowed this all female team of Improvers to showcase their talents. Some highlights of the night included a scene between McMillian and Spenny where McMillian tried to cure Spenny’s fear of ducks, which was an audience suggestion, that lead to her finally seeing ducks, killing ducks, and eventually needing an intervention. Another crowd favorite was a game where each actor had to mime out different things to help their fellow actor guess a location, occupation, and murder weapon. Although this acting out game of “Telephone” went wildly off from the original audience suggestions, it was entertaining watching where each actor THOUGHT they were located or what they were doing. There were even unexpected surprises like full musical numbers and dance movements during certain scenes. As the zany comedy got sillier, Unscrewed Theater stuck to its commitment to having family friendly entertainment. Not once did the “Hat of Shame” (more boos and hisses) make an appearance and my children were as delighted and enchanted as I was watching the show.
Unscrewed Theater offers a wonderful alternative to the usual family night out of seeing a movie. It’s something you can talk about and laugh about with your family for days later. And if you have kids like mine, you might even keep the fun going with trying out the games for your own family at home. If you find you struggle with coming up with suggestions, Unscrewed Theater also offers Improv classes to teach you all the skills to master Improv. In Unscrew Theater’s lobby they have a large sign that reads, “We’re Serious About Being Silly” and Unscrew Theater makes good on that statement with their dedicated actors and roaring good time.
Unscrewed Theater, 4500 E Speedway Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85701
Every Friday and Saturday Night – Family friendly shows start at 7:30 PM, Uncensored Shows start at 9:00 PM
Tickets: $5 for kids, $8 for adults with an option for seeing a second show for $2 more
Unscrewed Theater Facebook Page
Unscrewed Theater Website
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