Nobody knows improv like the teams behind Variegated Productions and The Big HOO-HAA. And it’s no secret that the improv veteran and producer behind both those names, Libby Klysz, has cooked up a new improvised venture, F*ck, Marry, Kill – but it’s a mystery how each show will end.
The parameters of the format are relatively simple: six players are paired up at random by audience members and then given a setting, also by audience suggestion. Over the course of the show, each couple improvises a relationship that ends in either a F*ck, a Marry, or a Kill. The couples take three 5-minute turns at creating a story, and once the third round gets underway, the pairs steer their scenes to one of the three endings. The format is awkward to explain in words, but easy to follow in practice, and smooth as heck in its execution by the cast.
Friday’s show was hosted by emcee/director Libby Klysz, with musical accompaniment by Wyatt Nixon-Lloyd. The paired-up cast consisted of Esther Longhurst and Luke Joseph Ryan, Nadia Collins and Tony Woods, and Elise Wilson and Shane Adamczak. An audience member’s suggested location was ‘Adventure World adults-only night’, but Klysz quickly put the kibosh on the adults-only night part, saying, “we don’t want to write the show for them.” Too much specificity can be a killer.
A full synopsis of each couple’s improvised story would be as tedious as listening to someone tell you about the really weird dream they had last night, so I’ll be brief. Longhurst and Ryan’s story spanned decades, included a prison stint for Longhurst, and ended in an “I DOOOO!!!” as they plunged together down a water slide. Collins and Woods’s story involved significant amounts of mopping up vomit and ended in a twisted, fiery death at the ‘Adventure World furnace’. Wilson and Adamczak were teenagers on a school excursion who get locked in the park after closing and end up clumsily doing what teenagers clumsily do – fumble with zippers and condoms in the dark.
The clear beginning/middle/end structure gives each 5 minute scene enough of a framework to keep the stories from going too far off track, while giving the players just the right amount of space to find their footing, rhythm, and connection. Generosity on stage is key for good partner work and good improv; these players have each others’ backs, and therefore the audience is in safe hands, even when murder is on the cards.
The cast set up such a wonderful range of moments – sweetness and tenderness from Longhurst and Ryan that brought out ‘Awwwww’s from the audience, psychological thriller-style tension that Collins and Woods broke so unexpectedly it left everyone in the theatre reeling, and goofy teenage cringe from Wilson and Adamczak that brought back memories of my own theme park puppy love. All this under the watchful eyes and ears of Nixon-Lloyd on keys, Matt Erren on tech/lights, and of course Klysz on the timer/mic.
I think Klysz has hit on a winning formula for laughs and thrills with FMK, and I would not hesitate to see another night with a different cast. Still to come on the two (ONLY TWO?!?!) remaining nights are Daniel Buckle, Brett Cullen, Tamara Creasey, Alicia Osyka, Hannah Rice, David Vikman, Geordie Crawley, and Tristan McInness, so future audiences are in for their own sure-fire, wet and wild adventures.
CICELY BINFORD
F*ck, Marry, Kill runs at the State Theatre Centre of WA from 19 – 21 January as part of State of Play at FRINGE WORLD. For tickets and more information click here.
