Catherine Deadman and Michael Bass in Seasonal Disorder
Now in it’s eighth year, Seasonal Disorder is a long-form improv billed as an “exploration of holiday insanity,” an escape for “people who don’t like dancing rodents or adorable orphans.” And in many ways, it delivered. However, though the story started at a holiday office party, the scenes quickly careened away from any holiday thematic.
But this is the risk one takes with improv, and once expectations were shifted, it was easy to get into the spirit of things.
The players for the evening were Mark Chalfant, Tara Maher, Michael Bass, Colin Murchie, Brian Coleman, Dave Johnson, and Catherine Deadman.
Taking cues from the suggestions provided by questionnaires the audience members filled out pre-show, the cast ran through multiple sketches. The result was a mixture of the absurd, the disturbing, and the hilarious. Deserving special mention are Colin Murchie, Michael Bass, and Dave Johnson for their quick wit and comic timing.
“The way we unwrap our presents – that’s how you should unwrap our show. You might not know till the end just what you’ve got – and it’ll probably surprise you,” said Artistic Director Mark Chalfant. “Your presence is your present to us – plus the suggestions you give us to play with, which we then use to make the show we give you in return, which we guess is sort of re-gifting.
Surprise!”
