A review of Blind Date – created by improvisational actor Rebecca Northan – playing at the Citadel Theatre on the Rice Stage through February 19, 2012.

When you think you’ve seen it all … try to imagine a 90 minute theatrical show, where one of the two actors has not seen the script, has never likely even been near a stage, has had no rehearsal and was basically selected at random out of the crowd to be the “blind date.”

The result, in the very sure hands of Calgary-based improvisational actor and comedienne Rebecca Northan, is a beguiling, delightful, funny play that’s going to dramatically change with every show.

Because at every show, the fella picked out of the audience to be her “blind date” will be a very different personality than the night before, will create in different ways, will take the story different ways.

The show’s creator and star, Rebecca earned much of her comic skills when, living in Edmonton, she was very much part of the city’s improvisational and comedy live theatre scene. Plus she’s had several hit Fringe shows. Opening night saw Fringe/Varscona/Die Nasty alumni out in force to support one of their own. Made for great atmosphere.

Blind Date has actually become a North American hit – Rebecca has been touring it to rave reviews. So much so that other improvisational actor/comediennes are testing themselves out on the role, as theatres ask for it to be included in upcoming seasons.)

Here’s Blind Date’s basic premise: Mimi (Rebecca’s character, also known as Mimi the clown) is a young French lady, staying here in Edmonton at her uncle’s apartment, while said uncle is off seeing family in the south of France.
The show starts with her waiting in a café for a blind date.

It’s a bit of a stretch, but then, so’s the whole show! Mimi wears a clown nose for a reason – the show is not meant to be literal in any shape or form. The whole idea is for Mimi to catch and run with the comedic moments as they appear.

Her blind date is chosen out of the audience, brought on stage to become the co-lead.

They converse as do any two individuals meeting for the first time and looking for connections. Mimi persuades the gentleman to come back to the apartment with her. Thanks to the magic of theatre, they then fast-forward five years by the end of the show and have just had their first baby.

At least that’s how it went on opening night. I daresay the show will go in any which way every time it’s performed through Feb. 19.

This is wonderfully funny stuff.

First off – the fella picked out of the audience, Duncan, was a rather shy and quiet 51-year-old, an elementary school principal who was attending Blind Date with his wife of 30 years.

Suddenly, he’s on stage, acting – trying to pretend to be some guy who’s arranged to meet this whacky, irresistible force of comedic nature known as Mimi – for the first time.

Before the show dives in, Mimi explains some ground rules to both Duncan and the audience.

On one side of the stage is a “time out” space, where Mimi and Duncan can go back to “reality”, and get out of character. She can explain things to Duncan, and then back they go into the play.

Duncan is allowed, during the show, to ask for a “time out” if he needs to head back to the reality check.

Meanwhile, Duncan’s wife in the audience is allowed to comment on the action, and to yell “bull shit” if she thinks Duncan isn’t quite telling the truth as Mimi quizzes him – on the theatre side of the stage – about his background.

Obviously this takes supreme comedic talent on the part of Northan’s part, to take whatever material her evening’s date presents, and spin it into comedic gold.

At the same time, her crew – two supporting actors who play the waiter, an RCMP officer, and are the stage crew, plus the lights and sound tekkies – are on the highwire as well. They have to adapt and have fun with whatever is happening on stage.

Northan has her pre-rehearsed bits – she must have hundreds – that she can steer the conversation toward, then take off in near solo comedic voyages. Or maybe she makes it all up on the spot?

The ground is so fertile because of the inherent contradictions. Some poor dude from the audience, with his wife watching, is expected to try and be a single guy looking for a little loving wherever he can find it?
This evening, Duncan was a happily married man who hasn’t even looked at another woman since marrying his wife (in the audience) three decades ago. Yet in front of her and 200 other audience members, embarrassed and at a loss for words, he is trying to remember what it was like to be single and available!

The gentle magic of the show lies in Mimi/Rebecca’s intuitive ability not to belittle or make fun of her unprepared co-lead actor. Duncan was not the least picked upon, nothing was sarcastic or belittling. If Duncan was feeling uncomfortable, Mimi would bring him over to the reality-check space, make him laugh, adjust the scenario and back they’d go.

Then again, there was a bit where Mimi heads off the stage in the apartment to “freshen up” and leaves Duncan alone, on stage, in front of those 200 people, for what seemed to be four or five minutes. Didn’t matter what he did in his uncomfortableness of those moments, it was too funny!

I can’t reveal what happens at the end – Mimi might use it again sometime in the next two weeks, and I wouldn’t want to spoil the fun.

Suffice it to say I suspect the end of the show is probably quite similar, no matter what the outcome: Mimi/Rebecca will find all the positive attributes of the fellow who has bravely “volunteered” to play the blind date, and, leaves him feeling pretty darned good about himself.

It’s a unique, creative, very funny and very poignant show. One not to be missed.