On Nov. 29, the Aragon Improv Team held their fall show, their second performance of the school year and the first show with their new members. The show took place in Aragon’s theater at 7 p.m., and featured ten of the 13 members, welcoming newcomers: seniors Xavier McKenzie, Grace Isola and Seth Weinfield, sophomores Diego Marenco and Macen Adams, and freshmen Samantha Green and Oliver Levitt.
“This improv show is my first, [but] I had an older brother who did improv at Aragon, and I went to every single one [of his shows],” Marenco said. “I always loved watching it and was always like, ‘what would I do if I was in that situation,’ [and] now that I’m going to be in those situations, I get to finally show what I’ve thought and dreamed about.”
The performance included six different improv games, original mini stories, and skits based on prompts from the audience.
“Now that I’m going to be in those situations, I get to finally show what I’ve thought and dreamed about”
“We’ve been working on how to establish settings and characters and really put a scene together, figuring out how we work as a group,” Green said.
Many audience members came to support friends from the drama program.
“I [had] high expectations [for the show] because a lot of the people on improv are very talented and I [knew] they [were] going to make it really funny and entertaining,” said sophomore Alessandra Hernandez.
After the performance, the improv members all had a variety of answers to what they thought was their favorite part or the highlight of the show.
“My favorite part [is] the group games [because] everyone [gets] to contribute and we all [get] to work together,” Green said. “I like My Movie [specifically] because we get to tell everyone a story; even though it’s really short, we just get to throw ideas around and see them come to life.”
Four Square, a game where four improvisers in a square formation rotate to do short skits, was especially popular among the audience.
“My favorite part [is] the group games [because] everyone [gets] to contribute and we all [get] to work together”
“I liked seeing the different stories mixed together,” said sophomore Vito Martin Del Campo. “I [also] feel like the cast worked together really well and the activities they did were really immersive with the crowd.”
The audience had very positive reactions, especially enjoying the skits involving audience participation.
“I really liked all the different games,” Hernandez said. “I feel like they did a really good job with including the audience and making it entertaining.”
Overall, AIT and the audience agreed that this was a successful show.
“Even though I’ve been doing improv and performing for a while, I still get a little nervous [before shows],” said senior Jane Palladino. “I think I’ve done better [shows] in the past but I was satisfied with it and I think it went well.”
AIT highly encourages people to come to their shows.
“Even though I’ve been doing improv and performing for a while, I still get a little nervous [before shows]”
“It’s always more fun when there’s more audience members because we heavily rely on those suggestions [to] create the skits,” Marenco said. “Improv is such an underrated activity, and I want more people to realize the coolness of [it].”
AIT held two shows in Hillsdale’s little theater on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2 at 7 p.m., as part of the annual competition between the two schools, known as the “Improvapalooza shows,” in which AIT won both nights.
