Piercing whistle. Before us, in white and black stripes, is The Referee. He introduces his troupe: The Freestyle Repertory Theatre – improve actors. There are two teams: Beauty and the Beast (team red) and The Ugly Duckling (team blue), and they must complete their assigned challenges before the Referee blows his whistle.
Round 1
Contender: The Ugly Duckling (red)
Occupation: Nurse
Challenge: Try. To. Tell. A. Story. Switching. Off. Between. The. Two. Actors. One. Word. At. A. Time.
A nurse is studying her charts and looking at blood when suddenly, she discovers…talking blood! This magical blood begins to sing and its melodious sounds engulf the entire hospital with its beautiful voice.
Contender: Beauty and the Beast (blue)
Action: Taking blood
Challenge: Tell a story with your hands behind your back while your hand motions are performed by a hidden camper behind your back.
Volunteers: Grace F. & Rochel Leah’le
In a creative twist on the action, lady meets vampire, with hilarious hand-motions.
Round 2
Contender: The Ugly Duckling (red)
Challenge: Act out a skit interspersed with camper-provided similes – the crazier, the better!
Volunteers: Morgan D. and Anny S.
A girl comes with her father to a camp that is like a crab. She is nervous about making friends, and her stomach feels like a wave, and she frets like a bouncing ball, until her father reassures her that she will make friends in no time, like a movie star.
Contender: Beauty and the Beast (blue)
Occupations: 2 farmers
Challenge: Act out a scene, switching from English to Gibberish and back every time The Referee rings a bell.
The farmers assess their measly flower crop:
“Look at this. Uckenblesh kiferonsehg blabbindod oh no we are dirt poor and fiddle blop diklywaddle I think we have to sell the horse!”
“But widdleplumtinluckerd flobberquderontip we can’t! I don’t want to part with him, safidjohdiskl sherdfaukhk! At least let me be the one to go to market.”
And thus began the story of the farmers and thlosdlenigx gerdenshnopper.
Round 3 (Tell a story about summer)
Contender: The Ugly Duckling (red)
Scenario: Girl walks into a bakery
Challenge: 2 camper volunteers act out a story as one improv actor narrates.
Volunteers: Chani R. & Sienna W.
Chani walks into a bakery, ordering cookies and cake. Sienna, behind the bakery counter, goes to fill the order when she runs into “Eddie,” the crazy, wild-eyed, baker, who threatens to stick Chani in the oven (named Summer). Appalled, Sienna springs into action, slapping Eddie across the face, magically turning him into jelly. Now, the one kind of cookie that chain and Sienna had never tasted was jelly cookies, so they throw jelly Eddie into Summer… and they had the best summer ever.
Contender: Beauty and the Beast (blue)
Scenario: Mother helps her daughter pack for summer camp
Challenge: The Barbie Doll – the actors can talk all they like, but cannot move any part of their bodies until is tapped by a camper volunteer.
Volunteers: Chaya S. & Chani K.
Bodies held in strange positions, mother and daughter move across the stage rusty-Tin-Man style, as they comically attempt to coordinate the task of packing a suitcase.
Round 4
Contender: Beauty and the Beast (blue)
Challenge: Tell a one-minute collaborative story, contributing when The Referee points to you.
Volunteers: Chavy P., Sarah H. & Trany K.
Melinda desperately wants to win the pie-throwing contest, practicing nonstop in her room throwing pies at her mirror. Disheartened, she cries and cries, sobbing until her tears fill the soil, creating a flower that smells like… pie perfume! With this unique olfactory advantage, Melinda has no problem winning the pie-throwing contest.
Contender: The Ugly Duckling
Challenge: Create a one-minute scene about sleeping
A counselor comes into a bunkhouse to make sure that everyone is sleeping. “Hey you! Stop yawning and sleep! Wait. Where do you think you’re going young lady? Gina! Get back here!” She orders everyone out of bed and…March! We’ll get her! A counselor-in-training drags Gina back, and commands Jenny to take Gina’s hat as punishment. The counselor is complimented on his developing strictness.
Whistle! Time’s up. No…wait. It seems The Referee forgot to look at the time. Do-over. Same scene, this time in 30 seconds.
The actors comply… Whistle. Ahh whoops. The Referee forgot again. Do-over. This time in 15 seconds.
Like someone had hit the fast-forward button, the actors speed through the scene, and – Oh my gosh! The actor fell off the stage.
The referee shakes his head. “I told you to do the scne the same way, and last time nobody fell. Now you have to do the scene this way, but in 5 seconds.
The actors were a fuzzy blur as they whipped across the stage: Don’t yawn!Oh no!March!Take her hat!falls off stage. And..whew! That was fast.
A huge round of applause for the amazing Freestyle Repertory Theatre actors and our Referee!!
-T