It's Probably Love: it might be love

Victoria: The only "Improvised Theatre" troupe to perform at this years' Fringe, Rosa Parks Improv hail from Vancouver and have been together for about a year and a half; and it looks like things are starting to jell. The very nature of improv dictates that if you go to a RPI show it's not going to be the same show I've just been to, so reviews are a little tricky.

Just so you know, this show is "long form" improv, a vastly superior style of the form compared to the gimmicky "bar" improv with which many of us may be far too familiar. Long form involves taking a few suggestions (in this case four, one for each member of the troupe) from the audience early in the show, then using those suggestions to create story lines. The stories begin as monologues, then morph into scenes involving the entire cast. Not as complicated as I've made it sound here. The strengths and weaknesses lie in each performer's ability to tell a good story, and their contributions to each other's plot. In other words, there's a lot that can go wrong.

In the show that I saw the Rosa Parks managed to pull things off well, yet never quite achieved the often elusive theatrical magic that only really good improv can create. They did, however, come very close on a number of occasions, and may be able to reach their potential during the run of the Fringe. And since every show is different, if you really like the Rosa Parks experience you could always see another show, and it'll be an entirely different series of stories. It could be the start of a beautiful relationship - it might be love.