The intimate setting of the Corpus Playroom works well with the quickfire comedy of the Cambridge Impronauts’s latest showing, ‘What the Dickens!’, a Dickensian improv show which is preparing for a run at the Edinburgh Festival in the summer. Reliant on audience participation, it is a hard piece to review due to the fact that every performance will be different. But I can say with confidence that I expect every other show will be as funny and as engaging as the opening night was. It was a tale of Southampton, wheels and London’s obviously prolific fish and sex related criminal underworld (honestly, you had to be there).

The central conceit of the show is to help solve Charles Dickens’ (Colin Rothwell) writers block. The audience must offer their suggestions and then with an impressively fast reaction, the cast create a Victorian melodrama which would make Wilkie Collins weak at the knees, filled with the classic Dickensian archetypes of plucky orphans, the horrors of the development of capitalism and convoluted family relationships. The use of genre adds an amusing touch, as the cast both constructed and deconstructed those classic characters which are so familiar to the modern audience. Later it is left to the audience to suggest a classic twist, leaving it up to you whether you can top Bill killing Nancy or Esther being Lady Dedlock’s daughter. I, for one, am often skeptical about audience participation – it usually fills me with a crippling sense of second hand embarrassment – but it is to the testament of the cast that there was enough, though never too much, input from the seats.  

The strength of the cast was not only in their individual performances but also collectively as an ensemble. I was impressed by their interplay with each other during the skits, sometimes bringing more jokes to the scenes, sometimes knowing when to cut them off and move on to the next bit. Thanks to the sustained collaborative strength of all of the Impronauts together, there was no one stand out character or scene, although a few do spring to mind. The jovial and rapid atmosphere was aided by the impressively emphatic musical accompaniment which hit just the right dramatic notes in the traditional music hall style.

What the Dickens! is an impressive display of farcical humour and sprightly improvisation, a highly enjoyable and recommended performance for anyone wishing to unwind during the toils of exams.

@meemstd