Students Showcase Improv Acting

The Performing Arts department at Mt. Hood Community College put on a Theatre Improv Show the evening of May 23, and it was hilarious.

I came in with no expectations and not too much information about what would happen, but I did know that MHCC theatre instructor Zach Hartley had been working very hard all term to teach the improv class students who made up the entire cast of actors for the showcase.

One thing I was not expecting with this show was audience participation. We were tasked with deciding the relationships between actors during their scenes, and before the show even started, in the theatre lobby there was a bowl in which we put random lines the actors would have a chance to say during a specific improv game.

The event attracted a very large crowd into Mt. Hood’s Studio Theatre, where we would meet the actors. Hartley introduced them in a pseudo-game show way, with funny little descriptions of each individual.

Then the action started, and I had never been so excited and laughed so hard in public ever before. As the show went on I wanted each improv activity to last longer because of how much fun they all were. All the actors brought their own humor and always pushed things further each and every time.

Overall, it was a great time and I enjoyed it all the way through, along with the rest of the audience. I’m looking forward to the next improv showcase and I praise all involved in making the showcase happen!