Total Rating: 
***3/4
Ended: 
1996
Country: 
USA
State: 
Illinois
City: 
Chicago
Company/Producers: 
Free Associates
Theater Type: 
Regional
Theater: 
Ivanhoe Theater
Theater Address: 
750 West Wellington
Phone: 
(312) 975-7171
Genre: 
Improv Comedy
Author: 
Free Associates troupe
Review: 

Blithering Heights is another of the full-length improv offerings by The Free Associates, this one in the style of the Bronte Sisters. The evening I watched, they worked with audience suggestions to come up with heroine Catherine Milton, in love with Hunter, a man whose family business was secretly running a bordello. The family who take care of Catherine (by turning her into a servant and convincing her she was ugly and going bald) try to keep her from meeting the hero by locking her in the cellar. Ultimately, the plot works its way to a happy ending, with Cathy happily married to her swain (now in another business), who teaches her the joys of removing the spines from the animals he hunts.

Despite the plot's spoofery, the Free Associates find a serious undertone that's true to the literary giants they parody and make each newly-created episode a delight to watch.

Cast: 
Randy Craig, Mary Fahey, Susan Gaspar, Adrienne Smith, Matt Tiegler
Critic: 
Effie Mihopoulos
Date Reviewed: 
January 1996