Comedy in Tallinn is a broad church, with plenty of room for sincerity and shenanigans, so I was glad to step back from stand-up and make a pilgrimage to Green Light Comedy’s “PREACH!” at Heldeke! on Thursday, 28 November.

Growing from a simpatico theatricality discovered between Mitsy Chanel-Blot and Adam Baker in an improv class, Green Light has been developing on the Tallinn scene over the past year or so, with appearances at parties, cabarets, and team-up shows with other improv troupes. Now with its own cast of five, PREACH! turns a series of games into an interconnected narrative in which the audience helps create a new religion, and explore the various intricacies that come with it. 

I’ll try to say this only once, though it was a notable and repeated issue, but the show and its performers deserved a better-behaved audience. People continued showing up throughout the first half of the one-hour performance, and some would exit and re-enter multiple times during the course of the show, occasionally leaving the door open behind them as they took calls. The cast did a wonderful job holding it together throughout the distractions, but I have a new appreciation for burlesque’s floor/door managers. Do better, audience members! Live performances are worth treating like a proper night out, even (or maybe especially) when it’s a rowdy, interactive show.

Beginning with a hammy, declamatory prologue, the show opened with the origin of a new faith, based on audience suggestions, and then the cast took over, first taking on roles as scholars debating the very origins we’d just established, as is the nature of religious scholars. We created and learned the rituals to please our new god and the punishments resulting if we failed, with actors trading off the role of god/narrator so that scenes and characters could develop. We watched as the onstage faithful mortals struggled with their religion and their impulses, with the cast spinning and weaving storylines that allowed them to shift and revisit focus throughout the event.

Reviewing a show that by its nature changes each time it’s performed is inherently difficult – such is the nature of improv, even long-form shows with a solid narrative framework. I will say that I look forward to seeing anything Green Light stages next, having missed their last major show during the Fringe season – although it seems I’ll get my chance to see La La Laul in April, so PREACH! may yet get resurrected for those who missed its first coming. 

The night closed out with a sneak preview of the following night’s two-man musical comedy show, Vegans for Dinner. For more improv comedy and live theatre in English, keep an eye on Green Light Comedy’s socials and the Heldeke! calendar.

Laurie
Author: Laurie

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