Theater Momentum is a weekly "laboratory" for improv-theater post-grads looking to hone their skills in a workshop setting. Their showcase, currently playing in the loft space of the Bailiwick Arts Center (where air-conditioning renders the room temperature bearable, if not precisely comfortable), is composed of two exercises in long-form improvisation: The first of these is titled "Jigsaw," and its goal to forge a story in mosaic - as opposed to linear - narrative, while the second, "Mixtape," takes its shape from a spontaneously crafted song-cycle.
After securing its topic from audience suggestions - on the night I attended, "Music" - the Jigsaw ensemble adopted the premise of two corporate drones recalling their youthful days as rock musicians. Flashbacks reveal that their garage band, while achieving a limited popularity, disintegrated when both the mother and sister of one composer married (or the equivalent thereof) into the family of the other. The actors' depictions of the various liaisons and the toll they engender on the boys' friendship are not exaggerated to cartoonish proportions, however, despite the guffaws of spectators. Even the older characters - ready targets for ridicule - are portrayed with affection and restraint.
Mixtape is not as accessible, either in concept or execution. (A "mixtape," for you geezers, is a custom-selected anthology of recorded musical selections.) While the onstage singer whose choices determine the story's arc exhibits commendably accurate pitch, the content of his a cappella renditions are often lost on those unfamiliar with the source material.
Further obstructing our comprehension of the scenario-under-construction is the performers' hesitancy to orient either us or themselves - only after several scenes of empty corporatespeak, for example, do we learn what kind of business employs our protagonists. Once the boundaries are established, however, we find ourselves engaged by the tale of two male co-workers discovering in one another a collaborative accord enduring even unto death. (Yes, the homo-word is mentioned briefly, but since the plot has afflicted one of the comrades with hepatitis, it's left undeveloped.)
In a town where improvisation groups spring up (and often die out) like weeds, the artists of Theater Momentum represent a fresh, intelligent and - more important - mature approach to a creative form too frequently surrendered to juvenile self-indulgence. See for yourself what enjoyment they conjure up on a warm summer evening.
