The MTHS Koalaty Improv Theatre Sports team faced the Kamiak High School Theater Sports team in the MTHS library on Thursday, November 17 to battle it out in an improv competition.
They had general ideas about what they would do once on the stage, but they used audience ideas to create a story on the spot. Theatre Sports coach Jeff Hogan of Unexpected Productions, hosted the competition.
Each team participated in five improv scenes, which were scored by a panel of three judges. One judge gave a narrative score, one judge gave an entertainment score and the final judge gave a technical score. Each individual score for the five separate scenes was out of five points and the scores from all categories were added up in the end to get a final score.
Koalaty Improv beat the Kamiak High School team with a score of 56-52, but both teams were enthusiastic after the performance and grateful they got to use their improv skills to entertain an audience.
During the performance the audience was full of laughter as the performers managed to create audience ideas into their own comedic stories. Hannah Marshall, a theater technician who enjoys watching the performances, said that our team is “always a lot of fun to watch, they are goofballs.”
Paul Pratt, a member of Koalaty Improv, expressed his satisfaction with the night’s performance.
“I am very happy with the performance, both teams did great, it really came down to judges preferences in the end,” Pratt said.
This match determined who would get to play in the final competition on Monday, November 21, at the Pike Place Theater for the grand prize, the Hogan Cup. Both teams spent a long time preparing for the performance by working with their coaches.
Hogan prepared the team for the challenges they would face during the competition.
“I worked on the techniques with them, and made sure they understood stories,” Hogan said.
According to drama teacher Mrs. Brzovic, the Theatre Sports team had been preparing for about three weeks for these performances.
Pratt believes all of this effort paid off during the competition.
“The more time I spend on this team, the more I learn about my teammates and myself,” Pratt said.
