Are you facing marital issues? Well don’t worry, because the characters of “Needs Improvment” are too. Throughout their show, characters faced a variety of dilemmas: from discovering that their partner has been cheating on them to broadcasting divorce-themed songs on their radio show. All was accompanied by jovial laughter from the audience.
The second “Needs Improvment” show of the year took place in the 22 Tappan Theater on Jan. 5, 2024. Using prompts from both drama teacher Mark Vanderzee and the audience, the actors improvised various scenes. Both skit lengths and the number of actors per scene fluctuated, but one thing was consistent: none of the scenes were anywhere close to boring.
One of my favorite games of the night was “First Line Last Line,” performed by senior Griffin Schroeder and junior Allen Burlak. Schroeder was given the first line of the scene (“Hello, pookie!”) and Burlak was given the last (“Better call Saul!”), but neither knew each other’s line beforehand. What started out as a sweet meet-up between a couple quickly turned sour as Burlak revealed he’d been cheating on Schroeder with Saul Goodman, a fictional character from the TV show Better Call Saul. Despite the story being silly and far-fetched, the reactions and emotions Schroeder and Burlak displayed felt realistic and genuine, making the skit one of the most memorable of the night.
The hilarity continued with another skit, now centered on relationship drama that ended with an intense group couples’ therapy session. Senior Andie Cohen and junior Benjamin Hurwitz played scheming therapists trying to earn more money, while seniors Evangeline Kanaris and Sean O’Halloran donned the role of a couple who constantly fought over doing the dishes. Kanaris and O’Halloran’s acting here was a highlight of the night. They played off each other’s absurdity well and were quick to react, no matter how ridiculous the skit became.
Juniors Laura Araújo and Will Stone played a second couple in the same scene, and the scene culminated with Araújo’s dramatic breakdown over her failing relationship and Cohen’s loud beguiling of Araújo to pay for more therapy sessions. I was blown away by Araújo’s acting here as, though she didn’t shed real tears, her cries of anguish felt bone-chillingly real.
Another scene that I enjoyed had six actors creating their own radio show, music and all. Using the audience-suggested theme of “Divorce: the Musical,” Schroeder and junior Abby Silberman freestyled the lyrics to profound songs such as “The Kids Can’t Know,” a heavy metal bop about why “the kids can’t know why mommy and daddy don’t sleep in the same bed anymore.” The lyrics themselves weren’t the most interesting. In one part, Schroeder and Silberman just repeated the title over and over again. However, I thought the actors did a commendable job sticking to the theme of the skit, and the format was refreshingly different from previous games. Though some parts were a little awkward, they didn’t detract from the hilarity of the rest of the scene.
The show concluded with “Seven Minutes in Heaven,” where Burlak, Araújo, Silberman and senior Joshua Chan monologued for seven minutes on how their characters died. Using a prompt from the audience, “An argument on X (formerly known as Twitter),” the actors concocted a wild and convoluted plot, stemming from a four-way argument between the characters of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, YouTuber Mr. Beast, a seven year old and a random man named Martin. Some parts of the narrative felt a bit too convoluted, and I was left confused as to how the seven year old got involved in the online fight in the first place. However, I loved each actor’s monologue, which all felt very true to the characters in both the way they spoke and the contents of each speech.
As the show winded down, I was left with one thought: I needed to attend the next show as well. The actors were extremely talented, quick to think up a bold plot and, best of all, hilarious. Take it from someone who watches an average of one theater performance a year: “Needs Improvment” is well worth the watch.
