issue 16// volume 44

arts // no. 7

The improv world comes to Vancouver

> US teams bring some laughs in improv festival

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

 

he Throwdown International

Theatresports Festival is happening
now in the Improv Centre, and the
festival—presented by the Vancouver
Theatresports League—brings the best
of the improv world to Vancouver.

In the past two weeks, the members
of the league were put into teams to take
part in a competition where the teams
play a game of Theatresports until one
of them ultimately wins. This week, five
teams from five improv groups around
the world will compete until one of them
emerges victorious, and the team that
wins will battle the top team locally ina
final that will be held on Sunday, January
21. Also, the improv groups will showcase
the unique aspects of their improv games
that the rest of the improv groups do
not do. The three weeks will create a lot
of improvised and funny moments.

For the festival this year, the
Vancouver League decided to invite
five improv groups from the United
States because the league will host the
International Theatresports Institute
Conference next year. Those groups
include Bellingham’s Upfront Theatre,
Portland’s Curious Comedy Theatre,
Cambridge’s ImprovBoston, Philadelphia’s

The Future, and Orlando’s SAK Comedy
Lab, which won the international section
of the festival in the past two years since
2016. SAK Comedy Lab was very good
when I saw them in the festival last year,
though the other groups that were invited
last year also did a lot of great things. Each
of the five improv groups has a style that
represents the city that they are from,
creating a lot of interesting material about

 

the things that happen in their city.

The winners of each game will
be determined the audience, so if you
like something that you saw from one
improv group, cheer on that group. Some
of the performances will also include
showcases of specific groups, and when
you see a game between two of the
teams, you might see a showcase from
one of the other three groups. There will

Photo via Granvillelsland.com

also be times when all of the groups in
a day play a game of Theatresports, and
they will likely have a very fun time.

The Throwdown International
Theatresports Festival showcases what
other improv groups are doing and
presents a lot of moments that will
cause you to laugh a lot. The Festival is
taking place now in the Improv Centre
on Granville Island until January 21.

‘The Shape of Water’ communicates emotion
between Its two leads without words

> The film relies on other elements to show their connection

Veronnica MacKillop
Columnist

Wann two Golden Globes

and scoring 93 per cent on
Rotten Tomatoes, it’s clear that

The Shape of Water is one of the
standout movies of the year, even
though neither of the main characters
speak throughout the entire film.

Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins) is
mute. She is able to hear people, and she
communicates using sign language. The
movie focuses on her relationship with
Amphibian Man (Doug Jones), who does
not speak any human language, but makes
noises that humans can’t understand.

So what is it that makes this movie
connect so strongly with audiences
despite the lack of dialogue between the
two featured performers? It’s not just
because the side characters are so strong,
or because it relies on explanations, it’s
due to the connection that the two leads
are able to convey without words. The
roles played by Hawkins and Jones have
such a strong presence that they don't
need dialogue to tell a story. The two
use movement and emotion to present
their characters, and the lack of words
actually makes their on-screen chemistry
even stronger because it doesn’t rely on
speech. A line in the movie says that
the amphibious creature is “capable of
language, understanding emotions’—
which perfectly sums up what the film
does without dialogue. Both characters

 

are capable of communicating with each
other, despite not being able to speak.

Without actually having lines, the
actors rely on so much more to convey
emotion. The silence also helps to portray
a sort of innocent quality to the love
story that makes you root for the main
characters even more. This is used in
contrast to the antagonist of the movie,
Richard Strickland, who is always seen
yelling and getting upset that he can’t
understand what Elisa is saying.

The silence between the two

 

protagonists is beautiful, in a way.
It compliments the ambience and
sensibly matches the underwater
setting. The film also uses music
as a means of communication, as
it is often how the two connect.

Director Guillermo del Toro does a
brilliant job blending a variety of different
genres to create this movie. It is a fairy tale
romance, science fiction story, a classic
Hollywood film, a heist movie, and a
good old-fashioned monster movie. Many
viewers and critics are comparing the

Promotional Image of ‘The Shape of Water’ via Fox Searchlight

film to Beauty and the Beast and Creature
from the Black Lagoon. As the director of
Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, Crimson Peak,
and Mimic, del Toro is known for creating
big, fantastical movies with a mix of both
realistic and otherworldly elements.

The Shape of Water is a film
that uses much more than words to
communicate the relationship between
its two main characters. Without speech,
it allows the pair to communicate
and express emotion using a variety
of techniques from del Toro.