“Mighty Peculiar”
Said Thomas Jefferson about Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry, during the interview the two had, when Jefferson, as president of the University of Virginia, was expelling Poe. Mighty amusing and mighty impressive is how I would describe the performance of Unexpected Production’s troupe of improvers now at Unexpected Productions at the Market Theatre at Seattle’s Pike Place Market.
The evening started off with Poe talking to the audience and asking three people to describe less than heroic deeds of their childhoods. These three stories were the genesis of the tales improvised and embellished on stage later on, accompanied by a brilliant keyboardist, Matt Hohensee. I was quite impressed with the skill of the improvers Shannon Bass, Kathleen Jenkins, Tiffany Hitt and Thomas Matysik, whose performances all looked very polished, and had I not known they had been suggested by the audience, I would have thought that they had been rehearsed, they were that good.
In short, it was brilliant and amusingly macabre and made for a delightful evening. These days we all need a laugh!!!!
Poe Unexpected: Edgar Allen Poe Improvised. A spooky evening of improv based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Unexpected Productions Fri, Sat at 7pm and 9pm until Oct. 29 The Market Theatre 1428 Post Alley, Seattle , WA 98101 Tickets https://www.eventbrite.com/e/375467372017
N.B. This theatre can be difficult to find. The address is confusing, go to the main entrance of Pike Place Market, look for the narrow stairs down, and then turn right, walk down the gum alley. No parking, numerous buses to downtown.