Primitive  takes the Cat

Relieving the stress of pre-Mid Term week, improv comedy troupe Primitive Streak offers a few good laughs when they perform their situation-based routine tonight at the Cat. The performance marks the group's first show of the semester.

"We've gotten a lot of good feedback," Jeremy Ellison-Gladstone, college sophomore and Primitive Streak director said of last semester's performances. The group gave one large feature show at the Cat last semester in addition to a few dorm performances. As far as a preference for audiences, however, Ellison-Gladstone said, "It depends on the crowd." He said that a larger audience generally makes for a better crowd.

For those who have never been to a Primitive Streak performance, they could think of it as a chance for an audience member's idea to be developed and played with by a troupe of Obies. The group, consisting of 11 students, conducts improv games and skits based loosely on possibilities left up to the audience, such as the relationship between the characters or setting for the scene.

"We'll have an improv called `Death,'" offers Ellison-Gladstone,"where audience members will give us two ways to die and we'll act out a skit ending with one of the deaths." In order to prepare for such spontaneity on stage, Primitive Streak rehearses six hours a week, practicing improv games and how to mime in different environments amongst other things.

Ellison-Gladstone said that "whether on a space ship or in a strawberry patch," members of Primitive Streak should be prepared to handle any situation its audience gives them. "Everything is based on skills," he said. "That's why we rehearse." He explained that while the audience only sees the finished product displayed during the show, Primitive Streak is more about a solid base built upon hours of situation practice and confidence in improv skills.

As far as tonight's show goes, Ellison-Gladstone is looking forward to working with the new cast; Primitive Streak's membership varies each semester. College first-year Jon Chernaik and sophomore Matt Baxter will make their debut this evening after only three weeks of rehearsal. "Ideally, we'll climax with this performance," Ellison-Gladstone said.

Even though the entire performance is based on the solid grounds of improvisation skill, each member's interpretation of this medium is unique. While some members work better in quick-wit situations, others may explore physical interpretation as their genre of choice. "It's a really nice mix of people," Ellison-Gladstone said of the group.

Though big goof-ups are always a threat in such quick-reaction based situations, Ellison-Gladstone said that Primitive Streak has never had any sizable errors in performance. On the contrary, he had only optimistic things to say about tonight's performance, even with such little rehearsal time. "A really successful show," he said, "is when it doesn't matter who's on stage; it's the product of the whole group's efforts."