Transactors Improv Company Amazes 6th and 7th Graders

  The Transactors Improv Company amazed middle school students by immediately improvising a scene no matter how outlandish the suggestion.

     When five Kannapolis Intermediate students recommended a fairy tale title one word at a time and came up with Moonlight Shining on Me Eyebrow, the three actors quickly devised an elaborate story involving a pirate.  They climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa, went shoe shopping, got ears pierced, sought prom dates and fought in wars.  In one scene, broccoli was a main character!

     The performances for all sixth and seventh graders in Cabarrus and Kannapolis schools as well as middle schoolers at First Assembly and Cannon schools were part of the arts council’s Students Take pART in the ARTs program.  Because the performances were improvisational, each group of students saw a different show.

     Teachers received a study guide to help them incorporate the performances into the curriculum, and Greg Hohn of the company also presented a teacher workshop.  The performances are made possible thanks to arts council sponsors CT Communications, First Charter and The Independent Tribune.

     “(The performance) was relevant to our kids’ experiences,” wrote one middle school administrator on an evaluation.  “It allowed for audience participation and gave teachers another technique for teaching.”

     Besides performing 15 school shows, Transactors Improv also treated adults to a wonderful evening of improvisational theatre at the Union Street Bistro.   All tickets to Love, Marriage and Other Complicated Relationships:  An Evening of Hors d’oeuvres and Improv sold out within two weeks. 

     Organized in 1983, Transactors’ performers combine dramatic skill, music, dance and movement.  The group performs primarily in theatres, festivals, colleges, and schools in the Southeast, although it has appeared in places as far-flung as Boston, Montreal, Minneapolis, Colorado Springs, and Austin. The company has been heard on National Public Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Company.