I have had the
opportunity to see Domeka Parker perform improv several times and she has never
failed to make me laugh! She is part of comedy troupes “Blank
Slate” and “The Brody Ensemble” a few talented groups of
quipsters who perform skits and acting exercises at the Brody Theatre in Portland,
Oregon. Domeka’s humor, talent and love for her craft are evident in her
every performance. Her fellow actors take her lead and clearly love being on
stage with her.
I recently got to see Domeka
perform with “The Brody Ensemble” in their October show
“Scary Movie”, where they turned two classic horror genres, (monster
movies and sci-fi), into onstage performances. It was a lot of fun to watch
because the actors called out scene descriptions to give the audience a visual
of what they would be seeing if they were watching an actual movie. The show
was fun, unique and high energy as you never knew when someone was going to
call out a change of scene and take us to another scenario happening during the
performance. The group even involves the audience at a lot of their shows,
asking for volunteers or concepts that they can interweave into the show.
It’s great to see
the range of characters the actors can take on for each performance or what
kind of scenario they create as they go. It takes a lot of thinking on your
feet to be able to do something that is as difficult as improv, and yet they make it
look effortless. Domeka and her gang have definitely perfected it. I highly
recommend checking out a “Blank Slate” or a “Brody Theater”
performance next time they are on stage!
Holly Petersen
No comments:
Post a Comment