Little Lark of London

“In a world of chaos, she who is organised is better than other people”

Fabled: The Improvised Fantasy Adventure is an “entirely improvised fantasy adventure tale featuring a hilarious cast of improvisers with live musical accompaniment.” Indeed, the six improvisers are joined on stage by musician Will Dixon, creating a wonderful atmosphere within the “Fabled Tavern.” Audience members give the cast the name of the hero and a positive trait – for this show, our hero’s name was Helen the Organised. 

Gareth O’Connor stars as Helen, the hero of the tale. He is joined by Sarah J. Lewis as Queen Latyvia (the y is silent), Ben Goldsmith as the Apotheacary and a Dumb Brother, Michelle Farenheim as the Apothecary’s Wife, Karlie Menzel as Jizzard and a Dumb Brother, and Micheal J. Kunze as Helen’s parents and a Guard. O’Connor has excellent comedic timing, leading the troupe through the story and easily going with some of the sillier plot twists, like Helen’s mother catching birds and eating them with her bare hands. A running joke throughout the show is that Lewis struggles to come up with names on the spot, which leads to the iconic name of Jizzard for the Queen’s advisor, Hollow Graham (spelling uncertain) for the Apothecary, as she believes him to be a hologram at first and then has to roll with it, and the Queen’s own name, Latyvia. Lewis does a fantastic job of being one of the more serious characters who is also quite possibly one of the most insane, as one character comments, “My queen, maybe there is something wrong with you.”

Goldsmith and Farenheim are a fantastic duo as the Apothecary and the Apothecary’s Wife, plotting to kill Queen Latyvia (including what might be one of the best lines in the show, “Queen Latyvia with the silent y makes me want to silently ask why”). The pair create a plot line about soft grapes that leads to an assassination attempt using a potion made of Merlot (soft grapes) that, unsurprisingly, doesn’t go as planned. Menzel is an absolute delight as both Jizzard, “the eyes, ears and tongue of the Queen” and Jizzard the Wizard, his father, who teams up with Helen to avenge the death of his son. She also joins Goldsmith as one of Helen’s dumb brothers and the two have some hilarious work together, speaking in unison or quickly working out jokes together to make fun of Helen (or themselves). 

Kunze takes on the roles of both of Helen’s parents, two strange characters – Helen’s father has the Black Leg (apparently not the same as the Black Death) and makes disgusting analogies about how his legs are falling apart, like being toilet paper in the rain or paper mache, causing everyone on stage to break. As Helen’s mother, Kunze turns into an insane old woman, plucking birds from the sky, snapping their necks and eating them. A particulary horrifying moment occurs when Kunze mimes catching birds and then squishing their bodies together to create a sword, which led to groans of disgust from the audience. 

As expected with improvisational comedy, some of the highlights came through the most unexpected moments. At one point, there is a hilarious mixup when one of the actors is assumed to be playing a different character, leading to chaos on stage as they try to figure out exactly what is happening. During a scene between the Apothecary and his Wife, the power suddenly went out for a second, leading the Wife to ask, “Why do you not pay the bills?” to applause from the audience. The cast work incredibly well together, knowing exactly when to end scenes before they go on for too long. A cast member will run across the stage, tagging those they want to join them in the next scene, a fun move that makes the story feel a bit like a game. 

Ultimately, Fabled: The Improvised Fantasy Adventure is a delightful hour of improvisational theatre that feels like being back at a Renaissance Faire. To quote one of the characters, “That was fucking weird,” but in the best way possible! Be sure to keep an eye out for Fabled’s next performance to see what story will be told at the Tavern next!

Fabled: The Improvised Fantasy Adventure ran on 12 January at the Free Association. For more information on the Free Association, click here. For more information on Fabled, you can check out their Instagram.

Photo Credit: George Strauss