Improvisational troupe to present final performance of the year

QUINCY, Ill. - “But Seriously, Folks…,” Quincy Community Theatre’s improvisational troupe, will present their final performance of the season 7 p.m. Thursday, May 22, in the laboratory theater. Tickets are $5 and may be purchased in the QCT box office, or by calling the theatre at (217) 222-3209 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Improvisation shows are recommended for grades seven through adult. Reservations are encouraged, due to limited seating of 80 people. Audience members should enter the theater through the stage door, which is located on the south side of the Oakley-Lindsay Civic Center on Kentucky Street.
    The troupe members include: Kevin Alphonso, Lizzie Daniels, Emily Dozier, Logan Giesing, Matt O’Hara, Abigail Walden and Ryan Williams.
    The May show will be in the “free-form” style, consisting of random scenes, monologues and games based on suggestions from the audience. With traditional theater, actors are given a script from which they memorize their lines and cultivate a character. With improv, the actors are given as little as a one-word suggestion for a scene from the audience, and they develop the character, the story and the relationships on the spot.
    This show will also celebrate the graduation of three of its members and mark their last performance as BSF troupe members: Kevin Alphonso, a senior at Quincy Senior High, was a troupe member from 2006-2008; Lizzie Daniels, a senior at Quincy Notre Dame, was a troupe member from 2005-2008, and Ryan Williams, a senior at Quincy Notre Dame, was a troupe member from 2005-2008.
    “Improv is an exciting piece of art,” said Brandon Thomsen, QCT’s director of student theater and the improv troupe’s coach. “The process of improvising a scene is thrilling. One never knows what can happen. Improv has the same appeal as NASCAR, because the audience wants to see you win, but they’re also watching to see if you’ll crash and burn.”