It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Supertrain! The Improv Ride of Your Life

The Un-Scripted Theater Company is proud to announce the fourth run in its 2006 season: Supertrain, playing Thursday through Saturday, 8pm, October 5–28 at the SF Playhouse Second Stage. Audiences board the theater, tickets in hand, for a play-length improvised show set against the fantastical backdrop of the world's largest train.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) September 24, 2006 -- The Un-Scripted Theater Company is proud to announce the fourth run in its 2006 season: Supertrain, playing Thursday through Saturday, 8 p.m., October 5–28 at the SF Playhouse Second Stage. Audiences board the theater, tickets in hand, for a play-length improvised show set against the fantastical backdrop of the world's largest train.

Inspired by shows like "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island," Supertrain follows the adventures of the crew and passengers aboard the world's most elaborate vehicle. "[Supertrain] is so incredibly huge, it can have any car you can imagine," explains director Dave Dyson. A shootout in the zombie car, a visit to martyr heaven, steamy dinner-and-romance in the sauna car, robbery in the bank car, a bachelorette party in the jungle car—the possibilities are endless.

Audiences get a chance to participate as well, if they choose. A conductor welcomes them to the theater and gives them a "ticket," to write down inspirational material for the improvisors. "We use those in the show without stopping the action," says Dyson. Once the train leaves the station, audiences may be called upon to react as a group of fellow passengers, a board of directors, a horde of pirates, or who knows what else. Dyson's idea is to incorporate audience input without stopping the show: "Once the story begins, it's a seamless tapestry of improv."

By integrating improv games and audience input seamlessly into one long story, Supertrain brings together two basic styles of improv. "Shortform" shows are full of games and sketches. "Longform" shows, San Francisco style, are like full-length plays, where the audience mostly sits back and watches. Producer Christian Utzman explains, "Supertrain combines the short, crazy, anything-goes aspects of a good shortform show and the strong, committed work that thrives in the San Francisco style single-story longform."

If the name "Supertrain" rings a distant bell, there might be a few reasons why. First, Supertrain was an improv show, created by Kelly Barnard, and performed in the days of BATS Improv's Belfry players. Several of Un-Scripted's members belonged to the Belfry, and played in that original show. "We've learned so much about improv and theater since then," Utzman says. "It's such a great concept that we had to bring it back so we could do the show with five more years of training and experience."

A second reason to recognize the title: research shows that Supertrain was also a TV show, running for only 10 episodes in 1979. Despite the numerous guest stars and million-dollar budget, it became one of the biggest flops in television history. Dyson adds, "But we're not worried." Consensus was, "Supertrain" the TV show abandoned the storylines in favor of the glitz. The cast of Supertrain-the-improv-show puts story and genre at the highest priority. Besides, with improv, actors can play anyone or anything, and create sets as elaborate as they want—because it's all imaginary, it's all free.

Supertrain runs October 5–28, Thursdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m. at the SF Playhouse Second Stage, 533 Sutter St. between Mason and Powell, near Union Square and Powell Street BART. Tickets are $15, or $10 for students and seniors. More information and advance tickets available online at: www.un-scripted.com.

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