tweet review - #mnfringe show 7 - 20,000 Leagues Under The Telltale Heart: delightful theme song/dance number; killer concept, well-executed; scene-stealing crow puppet narrator and foley artist; not sure how I feel about the queer-baiting but... solid improv, a lot of fun - 4.5 stars
Even more than regular theatrical performances, improv comedy is very much a completely different show every time because they don’t even have a script to start with. In some cases they start with absolutely nothing and have to build all the characters and the situation from scratch. 20,000 Leagues Under The Telltale Heart splits the difference between those extremes. It starts, as many improv groups or long-running improv shows do, with a basic premise and cast of characters as a jumping off point. And then the particular improvisational episode builds out from there.
“This can’t be like last time when we went to confront Louisa May Alcott.”
20,000 Leagues Under The Telltale Heart imagines a six-man literary supernatural crime fighting squad composed of Jules Verne (Will Schroeder), Edgar Allan Poe (Bret Meyer), Charles Dickens (Cody Madison), Mark Twain (Adam Mellerup), Franz Kafka (Chip Gehring), and Hans Christian Andersen (Ari Newman). They also have a Foley Artist doing their sound effects (Julie Censullo), some live music (Ryan Klima), and a very hardworking prop maker (Mal Mohn) creating some pretty bizarre props.
“I literally met you in hell.”
They have a catchy theme song (courtesy of John Schroeder) and opening dance number which starts each show and introduces the characters. Then one of them will also have to pull double duty as the day’s villain to be defeated. This time Madison stepped away from being Charles Dickens in a lot of scenes to instead be Bram Stoker, who of course in this telling is a vampire himself and had some crazy plot about drinking the blood of the King of England and somehow taking over the government (that isn’t a spoiler, it’s improv, every show is different).
“It smells… like orphans.”
Because every show is different, people’s experience will vary. I had a really good time. A friend who attended a later performance complained that the cast was favoring one side of the house over the other, and the sound mix was bad and kept drowning out the performers. My show didn’t have those issues.
“I understand your pain, gigantic tick creature.”
My issues were more with what seems to be built-in limits to how far the characters can go, whether they or their relationships to each other can change. Everyone seems stuck in a loop, and sometimes even within the same performance, regress back to square one and start having the same behavioral challenges over again. For instance, Kafka’s thing is that he can transform himself into a beetle, but he always thinks, either in human or bug form, that he is disgusting. It’s his whole personality. Sometimes his bug powers come in handy, but sometimes he can be turned against the team as a secondary monster.
“I’m sure that clock is spoken for by now.”
Hans Christian Andersen is… very gay. Flamboyant is an understatement. Points for representation. However, his origin story is that he used to be an adorable chair with big blue eyes, and a color scheme that matches his very pink human outfit. Which is… OK, I guess. He is gay in the way he presents in the world, but doesn’t really have (at least in this episode) any kind of human relationship. He also keeps falling in love with inanimate objects, like the clock tower Big Ben. So the one openly gay character is an object of mockery, and less than human. He is very childlike and often seems stupid. It seems the audience is encouraged to laugh AT him more than laugh with him. His weapon is also a Cupid style bow and arrow to make people fall in love - you know, emotional, traditionally feminine. He is not seen as a strong character who saves the day. Others must protect, help and save him instead.
“I will not replace my heart, Edgar, for that is where you live.”
The only queer relationship going on, and again it only goes so far, is the love that dare not speak its name between Verne and Poe. Each is constantly risking his life because he doesn’t value it, but the other side of the pairing is always trying to save them, and help them to value their life - because they do, VERY much. And the rest of the group has a betting pool going on when they’re going to kiss (not in this episode, and I got the distinct feeling never). Again, it felt like we were being asked to laugh at the idea of two men who had feelings for each other, and/or (slightly more enlightened) to laugh at the idea that, as men, they can never quite express their feelings, which are very obvious to everyone else around them.
“Prepare to fall! In love!”
It feels like the queer element is just thrown in for variety (because there aren’t any women in the group, and they don’t seem inclined to play female characters - which other improvisers do - so how else are you going to access the rich vein of material that a possible romantic relationship provides in this situation?) It also seems they never mean to actually deliver on either the potential of Hans, or of the relationship between Jules and Edgar. Now, this is very likely me taking a basic improv comedy premise WAY too seriously, but it seems like they’re leaving storytelling opportunities on the table. And it’s also borderline queer-baiting. I came to see the show to have fun, and I did, but at the same time, don’t jerk me around. (I’m willing to admit that maybe they have a five show plan - like the Bearded Company’s Swords and Sorcery Fringe outings in recent years - where each show builds on the one before in terms of relationships and characters and plot threads (with recaps at the top to catch people up) to a grand finale in the last performance of the Fringe run. But I only saw the first performance, and I haven’t seen this group’s work before, so I don’t have anything else to go on.)
“And I shall travel through time and teach someone the ills of Christmas.”
That said, the performers all seem to work well together. They’ve also got an amusing crow puppet as an interstitial narrator that everyone take turns piloting in order jump into a scene before it runs out of gas (or off the rails) and allow the story to shift to a different set of characters in the ensemble who are waiting to leap into action and move another part of the story forward.
“We’d like to exercise our right to talk to the King during office hours.”
Despite my qualms and second thoughts on the queer content after the performance, during the show I was quite enjoying myself. I think it’s because they’re as good as they are that I was wishing for or expecting more out of them. It’s good when your audience feels like they should hold you to a higher standard, because they feel you can deliver. 20,000 Leagues Under The Telltale Heart is a fun hour of improv. Check them out.
4.5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended
Here's some handy links to a rundown of 5 and 4.5 Star shows I've seen this year, also the 4 and 3.5 Star shows, and the rest, plus this year's Top 10 list, and Top 11-20 List, and the full list of all returning favorites in the 2023 Fringe, plus a link to all the 2023 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.
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