Improvisers invade White Rock with 'Scared Scriptless' comedy show

WHITE ROCK — When White Rock Players’ Club surveyed its members last year, people wanted to see some more “outside, one-off” events at Coast Capital Playhouse.

Accordingly, a performance by Vancouver TheatreSports League is a perfect fit, said Kate Stadel, vice-president of the club.

“As there are lots of new, younger families living in the area, it’s a nice adult evening out (featuring) excellent entertainment,” she told the Now.

On Saturday, March 15, VTL will make its debut in White Rock with its long-running Scared Scriptless show.

The improv-comedy event is also in line with a goal of the Granville Island-based company to perform more often in the suburbs of Metro Vancouver.

“Next year, we’re hoping to book shows at Evergreen Cultural Centre (in Coquitlam) and at Surrey Arts Centre, and White Rock is another great venue for us,” said Jay Ono, executive director of Vancouver TheatreSports League.

“What we’re hearing is that people really want to stay closer to home and not make that drive into Vancouver all the time.”

The 90-minute show in White Rock will feature four actors (Denise Jones, Michael Teigen, Ken Lawson and Nathan Clark) along with sound improviser Laura Skelton.

Scared Scriptless has been a mainstay for VTL since the mid-1980s, not long after the groundbreaking company began staging improvised comedy in Vancouver.

Ono has been with the organization since 1983 – first as an actor – and this spring will mark his 20th year as executive director.

“With a show like this,” Ono said, “it’s nice for the performers to get in front of a fresh audience, too, and maybe an audience that might not have been exposed to much improv, other than maybe Whose Line Is It Anyway? on TV. What we do isn’t the same, and there really isn’t anything like live improv, with that audience interaction. It’s like watching hockey on TV and being there in person, when people tend to get into it much more. That’s what we do.”

Tickets range from $18 to $20 for the Scared Scriptless show at Coast Capital Playhouse, 1532 Johnston Rd., White Rock. For info, phone 604-536-7535 or visit www.whiterockplayers.ca.

tzillich@thenownewspaper.com