An improvisation theatrical p e r f o r m a n c e , with eight actors from Centerstage, entertained the crowds on May 6 at Alliance Francaise, Bangalore.Actors Vibhinta Verma, Rajiv Khatri, Richa Kapoor, Naveen Kumar, Noella Ferrao, Aaron Punnen, Kenneth Sebastian and Kanika Batra enacted situations by and for the audiences, in the most hilarious ways possible.Founder of Centerstage, Saad Khan, along with partner and filmmaker Siddhanth KS were mediators throughout the 90 minute comedy titled The Improv.Saad Khan, the brainchild behind the New Wave Media Movement -- Centerstage, has produced over 16 plays, written and directed three films, one of which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, 2008.He is now working on his feature film titled ‘Station’.His partner, Siddhanth KS, has directed numerous plays and conducted national theatre workshops.He is a recognised film maker, after his movies were screened at the International Film Festival of India (Goa).With three rounds of humorous and witty acts, the actors exceeded the expectations of the audience.The first round, called ‘Shut Up and Improv’ involved two artistes enacting a situation given by the audience, assuming the roles of famous celebrities.Next, the ‘Date’ round, saw two actors on situational dates -- spy date, religious date, desperate date, blind date, friends date etc -- prompted by physical and mental quirks.Finally, in the last round, the actors froze in the middle of the performance to assume the expressions and emotions suggested by the audience and continued to make them laugh.The ‘situational comedies’ proved to be as funny, if not funnier, as the ones on television.Live performances have a charm of their own, that make them authentic.Since most of the imaginary scenes were given by the audience, they had absolutely no problem relating to the humour of the actors.Vibhinta Verma, who has worked with Saad Khan and the other actors, said that her biggest fear was freezing on stage or blanking out.“It was an interesting challenge and I was up for it because I like the international improv shows.So, I hadn’t even thought of saying no”, she added.The idea of ‘chemistry’ was drilled into the actors.Another actor, Aaron Punnen, said that they had to get to know each other in and out, to know each one’s characteristic and comic style.As Kenneth Sebastian said, “It was insane fun”, not just to act but to watch the audience have fun.Being naturally good at improv, he didn’t need much training and was thrilled to join the team.It was a perfect way to end the ‘World Laughter Day’, with outbursts of uncontrollable laughter.
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