“Molly’s Coffee House –A Cup of Joe and a Show!”
~From the Director’s Perspective~
Re-Story Theater did it! A Molly’s Coffee House—with its 6 characters and nearly 25 walk-ons parts, was definitely a moment of caffeinated theater well received with a generous dollop of joy and hilarity by its audiences.
As the director and producer of Re-Story Theater, I had great faith in my actors who had worked on their original three-dimensional characters for more than a year and maintained them through two shows in May and then in October of 2012. We all held our breath hoping it would fly the first time—that script would meet improv in a story—and it did.
Our audiences participated in the evening by sitting coffee-shop-style around table with friendly strangers, naming Molly’s special blend, giving content for the improvs that were a part of the “Molly’s at Night Show,” and enjoying Porto’s pastries, chocolate chip cookies and Indonesian fair-trade coffee from 10,000 Villages. Not hard tasks, but more than required of your basic theater-goer.
A guest who had brought several friends the first night said, “It was a just so good to laugh and relax with friends. We laughed, again,…all the way home.” I believe they were referring to our antics in our improv games that were a part of the show.
One of the goals of that first Molly’s Coffee House—beyond fun and laughter—was a continuing story-line, beckoning its audience to return.
Our second improv show, Molly’s Coffee House… Improv Hams vs. A Poetry Slam!, took place in October of 2012 and was, again, absolute hilarity with Fall and Halloween mixing it up in an over the top competition with the town’s poetical society challenging Molly’s staff. The poetical society was a group of volunteer actors that prepared poetry and willingly played improvisationally into the show. As usual, other walk-on actors returned and joined in the story-line. Rolled into the performances was a used book faire, holiday treats and tips on decorating, and children’s styled matinee.
Thankfulness and An Invitation…
To all who came and participated in this improvisational adventure, thanks for attending our Molly’s Coffee Houses! Will we do it again? Well, Molly’s promised the next one would be a dinner theater experience. All I need is a group of creative improv actors to pull that one off. Interested? Contact me! And do place your name on our mailing list for a future improv workshop.
Melea J. Brock
director and producer of Re-Story Theater
Email Melea at melea@rightsideupstories.com
ACTORS MUGS, LEFT TO RIGHT, ARE…
Val Boss
Melea Brock
Christy Johnson
Angela Mead
Vicki Edwards
Melissa Knox
Lynn Christy
