(Photo: Allison Upchurch)
By: Allison Upchurch, Staff Reporter
Last Thursday, November 2, a night of laughter and excitement took place in Walker's Pub as Regis' student improv group, OutRegis, performed with local improv performers from the Phamaly Theatre Company, a theatre group entirely made up of performers with disabilities.
The Phamaly Theatre Company's goal is to inspire people to re-envision disability through the art of theater. Along with improv, they produce full-scale professional plays and musicals year-around in the Denver Metro area.
"Being a part of Phamaly is great because it not only shows that I can live with disabilities but that I can thrive," Kimberely Jackson, one of the performers with Phamaly, said of her time with the group.
The show on Thursday played out in three parts. First, members from OutRegis performed together, doing improv exercises include translating poems of gibberish to made up English translations and performing a scene in a variety of different emotions. Most of the topics and subjects covered for these improvised scenes came from input and ideas from the audience in attendance.
The second part of this showcase came when the members from Phamaly came up and performed their improv with each other. These members decided to use the technique of tapping each other in and out to perform various scenes that derive from the topic last mentioned in the previous scene. They also took experiences from their own lives and incorporated them into their improvised scenes.
The third part of the showcase was when both improv groups came together to improvise scenes based on topics and subjects that once again came from the audience. At the end of the night, they did a Q&A panel with the audience to allow the performers from Phamaly to showcase their talent and tell their stories.
Seeing both groups perform together became a strong reinforcement of how people who are passionate about performing can come together to bring laughter and inspiration to their community through the performing arts.
To learn more about the Phamaly Theatre Company and their shows, visit their website at http://www.phamaly.org/.
To get involved with OutRegis, follow their Facebook page, or participate in their rehearsals every Wednesday and Friday from 5-7p.m. in the Student Center Basement.