Love Actually is a classic. Everyone’s seen it, most people love it, the adorable blonde kid probably owes his career to it. So how do you even go about mimicking such a classic? It’s easy, you don’t. 

Improv Actually promises all the love, all the cheese and none of the celebrity cameos. Watching a practice run I can confirm, much to my disappointment, neither Hugh Grant nor Emma Thompson made an appearance. However, there were a plethora of other characters that, quite frankly, Richard Curtis really missed out on. The premise is simple. Friends at a sleepover are deciding which film to watch. We, the humble audience choose make up a random name on the spot and they then proceed to watch as they tear out any Oscars, Academy Awards or BAFTAs it may have won and instead stuff it full of characters and plot that is just so beautifully wrong it somehow is so right. Never before have I seen cigarette smoking squirrels* on the Corpus Playroom stage, seen someone be assaulted by ducks in John Lewis* or been so amused by the pronunciation of “hors-d’oeuvres”*. And if that sounds bloody mental, it probably is.

This show is unapologetically mad. Each scene is so brilliantly bizarre with wacky twists, turns and full on summersaults. One conversation turned from broccoli* to nudity* in seconds whilst another forced one actor to wear a cat ear headband* longer than frankly is morally fair. And the best thing? All of this was totally improvised by the cast, backed up by lighting that somehow knew when to move to the next cue. By voodoo, magic or “natural talent”, the cast know exactly what cues to pick up from each other, exactly when to move from the Spanish-French restaurant* back to the cat sanctuary* and exactly when to instigate that spontaneous kissing*. But during all this, you find yourself genuinely attached to the characters that 30 minutes ago didn’t exist.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: not dead yet

Improv Actually is a show that takes the script and tears it up, dances around the flames chanting and forms a charming new romantic narrative from the ashes. And when the hour is up and the story concluded, the whole audience will be in full knowledge that they’ll never get to see any of it ever again. But then, isn’t that the famous phrase? It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all**. 

*all subject to change. Conditions will vary. Ticket purchase recommended. 

** there are exceptions. Fuck you Sarah. 

Improv Actually runs from Tues 14th - Sat 18th Feb at the Corpus Playroom, 9:30pm.