The Unscriptables are an unscripted (surprised?) theatre company in North Portland. They create improv shows that combine things like pop culture and playwrights and movie genres instantly – on stage and in front of a crowd.
“Our theatre company is trying to do truly inspired and original work. We do big genre pieces every other month that have a full-month run. They take a lot of work to come up with the show mechanics and for us to learn everything we can about the genre so we have the freedom, then, to improvise inside of it,” says Trenton Shine, artist director for The Unscriptables.
The company will tackle “The Uninvited,” an undead take on Tennessee Williams will follow the exploits of zombies that walk among the underprivileged among us.
“It’s kind of a blend of ‘True Blood’ for its idea of the undead as a part of society and ‘Pride and Prejudice with Zombies’ for its idea of rewriting a fictional history,” Shine says.
There are seven main characters and guests that differ each week. The story line comes with “a ton of back story,” but most has been improvised either in rehearsals or directly on the stage.
“Going into each show we know what has happened in the past that has brought us to this point. We get a suggestion from the audience of a “B” story line that will be resolved in that show (ie: a picnic, news of a disaster, ice cream social, can be anything),” Shine adds.
The Unscriptables perform shows as “pay what you want,” meaning that you can pay anything from nothing to the suggested $10 per ticket.
As Shine explains, they want to make a night out affordable, because each show is different and they’d like to see an audience come back over and over again.
Shine adds, “As you can tell, I love what I do. I have been doing improv for 20 years. I strive to create unique, inspired, fun theatre that is quality as well.”
The group hopes to be able to tour and hasn’t ruled a Salem appearance in the future. Their style of long-form improv might be a good fit for a venue like Capitol City Theater, which hosts improv nights on Fridays and Saturday. For more information and show times for The Unscriptables, visit their website at theunscriptables.com.
