The Gather, BATS Improv, 11 April 2020 ***1/2

By BATS Improv online (Via Zoom)
Sat 11 April 2020 (1pm Sun 12 April, Melbourne, Aust time)
Reviewer: Kate Herbert 
Stars: ***1/2
Link to recording of The Gather: The Gather -BATS

Watch BATS shows: Melbourne Aust time 1pm Fri/Sat/Sun (8pm SF, Thur/Fri/Sat) 
Log on to see what's upcoming: https://www.improv.org/online-shows

BATS Improv online - (actual cast of The Gather)

So, BATS Improv performed another improvised show via Zoom today and this one features the meeting of storytellers and improvisers in a format called The Gather.

Three storytellers share their true stories from their couches at home, in the way that The Moth shares real stories.

The improvisers then snatch elements, characters, insinuations, truths and falsehoods from those stories and weave them into new and often even more peculiar scenes and narratives.

If this were Playback Theatre, the stories would be treated with careful regard for the mood, intention, details and atmosphere. But who wants that?

These improvisers mess with the stories and delight their audience, and probably their storytellers too, with the weird and wonderful corners they turn and strange things they uncover when they lift the rug on the story.

As improviser, Corey Rosen, says, ‘Storytelling has the power to transport us.’

Tracey Rose’s story takes us to an iconic gay bar in The Castro in San Francisco where she tries to pick up a gal; Scott Sanders’ takes place in his family basement when he was a randy 12 year-old; and Brandon Spars’ tale is on an overloaded ferry (with an overloaded toilet) in Indonesia decades ago.

The cast use all this as a springboard for scenes about a dog park, French crocodiles, a ‘poo volcano’, Hitler’s erotic writings, a sexy housekeeper in a hairnet, karaoke as a pick-up method, and more.

The cast (Corey Rosen, Lisa Rowland, Rebecca Stockley, Zoe Galvez, William Hall) and storytellers can’t hear the audience reactions, but they can read them in Chat window (See image below) as the online audience types them at the speed of light. The comments are often as hilarious as the show itself.

Zoom is making impro shows possible, despite the theatres being closed. Log on and sit back and enjoy the hoot that is Zoom-Pro.  Or should this show be called Zoom-poo??!!! (You had to be there!)

By Kate Herbert

Cast

Corey Rosen

Lisa Rowland

Rebecca Stockley

Zoe Galvez

William Hall

Storytellers

Scott Sanders

Tracey Rose

Brandon Spars

The Gather Zoom screen with Chat Box (Thanks WIlliam Hall)