Jane Austen Unscripted - Birds Migrating, 17 May 2020 ****

THEATRE - IMPROVISATION
Birds Migrating 16 May 2020  (LA time)
Improvised on one night only
http://improtheatre.com/livestreaming/ see here for upcoming shows 
Reviewer: Kate Herbert 17 May 2020 (1pm AEST)
Stars:****

Impro Theatre LA is at it again! This week, their online improvised play is Jane Austen Unscripted with the title, Birds Migrating, an audience suggestion.

Having been a Jane Austen aficionado since I was a teenager, it’s fascinating to see how improvisers interpret her writing, characters and the period in which she lived. Here, we find ourselves in an Austen romantic story that is Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey with a hint of Emma.

Edi Patterson & Dan O'Connor (improvising in 'Iso' together)

Sisters, Emily (Edi Patterson) and Harriet Green (Sarah Mountjoy-Pepka), who live with their silly mother, Mrs. Green (Kari Coleman), have grown into lovely young women while the men of the area have not been paying attention, it seems.

 The improvisers perform via Twitch TV, playing their roles separately from their homes during isolation. The technical skill required to achieve this production is not to be under-estimated.

Sarah Mouttjoy-Pepka

They are in period costume and all action is set against virtual backgrounds, including rooms and gardens of the Greens’ manor home, and the imposing stately Hawkebury House, home of Lord Henry Matthews (Brian Lohmann).

By this mysterious alchemy, the company of six improvisers and three technicians creates an entire Austen world instantaneously on our screens.

Emily Green (Edi Patterson) is interested in science and the natural world while her sister, Harriet, is compelled to read and write dark poetry that is ‘amiable or horrific’.

Emily has two suitors: the dashing Mr. Edwards (Nick Massouh) who returns to the neighbouring estate after a long absence, and Reverend Johnston (Dan O’Connor), the stumbling, cheerful vicar. No prizes for guessing which one gets the girl.

When Emily meets the cool, pompous, narrow-eyed Lord Henry Matthews, played by Brian Lohmann (channelling Mr. Darcy), the pair share their love of poetry in his huge library.

 Brian Lohmann

This performance is riddled with euphemism about size, burning, heat, biology and anatomy, birds mating and migrating, and other metaphors.

Mistakes are gifts in improvisation and, when Emily’s voice becomes unintelligible momentarily, it provides an opportunity for an entire narrative thread about being tongue-tied in the presence of Mr. Edwards which leads to an inspired, unintelligible proposal and acceptance in the final scene.

It’s a gift to witness these shows when they fly and Jane Austen’s little-known work, Migrating Birds, really flew.

by Kate Herbert

Kari Coleman – Mrs. Green

Edi Patterson – Emily Green

Sarah Mountjoy-Pepka – Harriet Green

Nick. Massouh – Mr Edwards

Brian Lohmann – Lord Henry Matthews

Dan O’Connor– Rev Johnston

Technical Improvisers: Brian Michael Jones, Arlo Sanders & Cory Wyszynski.