"Propless" Review

Friday night after winning coveted pillar cup as a member of team Responsibilty, and Spring Fling I decided to attend The Cheshire Academy improv acting show "Propless" directed by senior Sam Weed. The show was entirely improvisation where the actors played theater games in front of a live audience. Once Sam told us that they were going to play theater games I was immediately reminded of Viola Spolin, the mother of theater games. One thing I thought it was very interesting there were props used in "Propless" but the actors weren't allowed to use them as the objects they really were. For example, the box used as a prop had written on it "not a box." Sam Weed did a good job of cutting the scenes at the right time. She let all the actors do what they wanted on stage but when the act started to get a little repetitive or boring she knew exactly when to move on to another scene. I also thought it was interesting how Sam Weed was the director of the show but also participated in many of the games as an actress.


The park bench game was the closing acting game of the show.  I remember playing this very game during my freshman year in Ms. Guarino's acting class as a final project. The object of the game is for one actor to get the other actor off the park bench by any means possible. I liked how some thought to act really sick in order to get the other actor off the bench. I remember that I used this tactic during my freshman year. Overall "Propless" was in enjoyable with great audience interaction. It felt very informal, and I felt as an audience member there were many opportunities for me to jump on stage and participate in the show. "Propless" proved to be a fun show and a way for the seniors to leave Cheshire Academy with a bang!