Last Thursday I had the good fortune to see James Long and Marcus Youssef of Theater Replacement Vancouver perform Winners and Losers, as part of the Lókal festival. Drama, and especially improvised drama is something I'm very interested in - yet - I have not attended or experienced many shows like this. Theatre in Iceland is for the most part very traditional (or what I've seen of it) so this was truly a true breath of fresh air for me.
The show has a certain structure and final destination - but involves a great deal of improv and (possibilities for) interaction with the audience. I got the feeling that the Icelandic audience was relatively passive (only throwing in one or two suggestions for discussion). The basis is the game 'Winner / Loser' wherin Marcus and James take various topics, things, people etc. and decide whether they are winners or losers. This then turns on themselves and the truly violent and difficult part of the play is when they start to dig into each other's personal life and history to demonstrate which one of them is winner or loser. The basic question there is the question of class and money and the 'conclusion' (if such a crass concept may be employed) is that there is no way around how these things ultimately define our existence.
This play is very funny, moving and deeply disturbing and I hope to see more from these guys some day!
