Stage Door News

Stratford: Spontaneous Theatre is back with weekly shows at the Revival House starting April 1

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

After a successful and pandemic-friendly run at the Revival House last fall, the Stratford improv-comedy group, Spontaneous Theatre, is back for a series of nine weekly shows at the Stratford restaurant beginning this Thursday.

Like their fall shows, improv comedians, actors, musicians artists and storytellers Ijeoma Emesowum, Bruce Horak, Rebecca Northan and Kevin Kruchkywich will each be playing a director with a different play they will try to present to no more than 50 Revival House diners in a show they’ve dubbed Instant Theatre.

As the show goes on, diners will get to vote on which plays they want to see more of, while eliminating the others, until only one remains at the end.

“We had a good run at Revival House in November before we had to shut down because of the second lockdown,” Northan said Monday. “And because we had been building an audience and were seeing our numbers increase every week, when we went back on lockdown, (Revival House owner) Rob Wigan said, ‘(I) love you guys. When the world opens up again, let’s have you back.’ ”

And while COVID-19 cases elsewhere in the province continue to fluctuate, Huron-Perth’s numbers have remained steady to the point where both the members of Spontaneous Theatre and Wigan are willing to try offering live, indoor theatre again with all COVID precautions in place – at least for as long as pandemic restrictions allow.

Complete with surprise guest appearances by some local favourites, this round of Spontaneous Theatre will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays from April 1 to May 27. Dinner reservations at Revival House starting at 5 p.m. on those days can also be booked in advance by calling 519-273-3432.

“Surely you’ve gotten to the end of Netflix by now,” Northan said. “And even if you haven’t, nothing beats gathering, even when you’re socially distanced, listening to other people laugh. If we could bottle that, we’d be millionaires.”

At $60 for a table of two, $120 for a table of four and $180 for a table of six, tickets for Instant Theatre at Revival House can be purchased at www.ticketscene.ca.

Note: Performances for April 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29 have been cancelled.

By Galen Simmons for www.stratfordbeaconherald.com.

Photo: Ijeoma Emesowum, Kevin Kruchkywich, Rebecca Northan and Bruce Horak – members of the Stratford improv-comedy group, Spontaneous Theatre. © 2021.