Without Annette

Reviewed by Pauline Adamek
Whitefire Theater
Through Oct. 2

Photo by Michael Lamont

 
​In Hope Juber and Jeff Doucette’s tepid comedy, a motley crew of wanna-be actors, writers and comedians gather weekly at Sam’s Improv Workshop to develop their performance skills. The class is populated by the usual stereotypes and we soon get to know a bit of each of their backstories.

Trevor (Andrew Villareal) is the loud and proud sassy gay barista; Donna, (Angie Jaree) the self-deprecating Mom-type; Jackie (Kersten Haile) is a cute blonde starlet; while her geeky roommate Libby (Julia Morizawa) lurks in her shadow. Kyle (Kyle Klein) is an “emo” teenager with issues; and CJ (Gary Robinson), a cranky former footballer; and so on. The loose and woefully underdeveloped plot strings together the mostly scripted “improvised” scenes: Friends break up then make up, gang up on each other and band together for one character’s emergency. Eventually they decide to “put on a show.”

None of the actors portraying these improv students displays any particularly gift of talent, comedically or otherwise, in this production.

That includes a poorly choreographed and awkward song snippet that we get to hear twice. Just when you think the show has finally puttered out, along comes an additional 20-minutes of excruciating improvised scenes, with the audience giving the actors a handful of cues. Without Annette is only running on Thursday nights, so the cast is generally a mash-up of whomever is available. Strictly for undiscerning fans of improvised comedy.

Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; Thurs., 8 p.m. (Dark Sept. 25); through October 2. (323) 960-5773, plays411.com