Tonight I was at the second showing of the Improv Centre’s latest production, “I Know What You Did Last Weekend”, in time for spooky season and running until the first of November. As the name suggests, the show plays off of the movie “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and the sequel “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer”.
Up to now, all the improv shows I have watched have had a host navigating the frame work and propelling any story lines. Whereas here, with this, there was a narrator on prerecorded audio to set the stage, and the actors came in with a mission. As a result it felt a little more scripted, as it needed to be in order to follow the timeline and the basic plot of the slasher movie.
We meet six friends who are graduating from high school and embarking on their own post secondary aspirations. One terrible incident drives them apart with the inability to keep their deadly secrets secret. The press release describes it as “a world of secrets, betrayals, and teen slasher-style melodrama”. Set in the 90’s “the story unfolds through uproarious flashbacks, culminating in one final gasp worthy reveal”.
Admittedly there is less audience participation overall, but that was just as well considering this audience didn’t feel much like shouting out suggestions anyways. The audience only mustered one or two meekly voiced suggestions, but offered plenty of laughs in exchange.
With no two shows alike you can watch a couple and are guaranteed a different experience each time, thanks to different performers and different suggestions each time. It is always a great time at The Improv Theatre.
Coincidentally the theatre bar’s seasonally signature cocktail is the negroni, launched in time for Vancouver Negroni Week. This is a punched up version of the classic titled “I Negroni What You Did Last Weekend”, hailed as “bold and bittersweet – a killer cocktail”. It certainly made the evening more enjoyable.
The Improv Centre
1502 Duranleau Street, Vancouver, BC V6H 3S4
604-738-7013
theimprovcentre.ca
