From Blind Date

DETAILS

Blind Date by Loose Moose Theatre
Loose Moose Theatre
Friday, March 14 - Saturday, March 29

More in: Comedy

Find It...

Loose Moose Theatre

“This is me as a theatre scientist,” says Rebecca Northan, improviser, actress, director and recently self-professed theatre scientist. “I have a question. I want to see how far an audience member will go with me. My hypothesis is that each has their own script for each of these chapters. Everyone knows what it’s like to meet their lovers’ parents for the first time. Everyone knows what it's like to move in for the first time. Everyone knows what that first fight is like. So what I want to have happen in the laboratory — which will be on the stage — is find out if I, as a performer, can activate your script.”

Northan's latest improv show, Blind Date, follows the course of a different romantic relationship each evening with a different member of the audience playing the male role. Though she has extensive background in improvisation, acting alongside troupes such as Toronto's Second City, Northan has also appeared in several television shows and feature films, such as Alice, I think and Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium.

“In Toronto, I'm often defined as a comedian, which drives me crazy, because I'm more than that,” says Northan. “A standup comedian is delivering written jokes that have been rehearsed, and an improviser is making it up as they go along. The comedian works off of an audience, and the improviser works within it.”

The original impetus for Northan to create Blind Date came from a 10-minute burlesque clown show she did in Toronto for the World Stage Festival. During one performance, while Northan was attempting to coax an audience member into making out with her, his girlfriend came up from behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned around, the girlfriend pulled Northan's clown nose off her face and let the elastics snap it back into her nose. She then grabbed her boyfriend and hauled him off stage. If something like this could occur after just 10 minutes of Northan trying to kiss someone's boyfriend, the incident potential alone in the full-length should be enough to get a sizable audience out.

“That's a thrilling night in the theatre,” says Northan. “I'll never forget that. I'm sure she will never forget it. He will never forget it, and all of the people in the theatre will never forget it. I think an unsuccessful show is one where the audience leaves and goes, ‘meh, that was alright.’ If someone leaves the theatre and goes, ‘I loved that! I never thought of things that way!’ or ‘Oh my God, that really upset me, and I'm going to be fucked up for three days,’ or ‘I'm outraged! I'm politically outraged by what I saw!’ — that's all great. But if you leave the theatre the same as when you entered it, that's a failure. Otherwise, why tell the story?”