CSI : Crime Scene Improvisation
Improvised theatre, in my opinion, is the bravest of all the theatre genres. The requirements to be entertaining and comedic, while at the same time developing plot lines and characters, keeps actors firmly on their creative toes. The CSI company does this in bucket loads!
As we walk in, there is a board with three invitations to the audience: to suggest the name of the victim (it’s a murder mystery), their occupation and an unusual object that ‘offed them’.
When the cast comes out, it’s up to Steve Bond to introduce the concept to us and he suitably warms us up to take part in the story telling – with some useful and understandable boundaries put in place.
We settle on ‘Clive Cabbage’ as the victim. He was a tour guide at the natural history museum (actually my suggestion!) and he was killed by a potato! The story can begin, with the entire audience being cast as Sergeant Derek!
It’s always a brave choice to remove the fourth wall in theatre. The company essentially surrenders creative control and puts it in our hands. There is a risk that audience members will take this a little too far, and essentially want to be on stage. This happened on one or two occasions, but the cast dealt with this well. They acknowledged the extra contributions enough, but not so much to encourage any further interruptions. They also chose not to ridicule the audience members, reminding us at the beginning, that this isn’t stand up comedy. We’re not the main source material.
But it definitely is comedy. With seeming ease (and therefore masking the intelligence needed to improvise well), the cast wove our plot line with their own improvised ideas, returning to motives and small details that we as an audience may have long forgotten.
They employ a particular technique that keeps the other cast members on their toes – a suggestion of a flashback, or a request to show a particular claim they’re making about their characters. One suggests they can do ‘many push ups’. Cue the cast member calling them to demonstrate that! It’s a fun way of showing that we are all part of this creative process, and nothing is off the table.
At a given point, we’re invited to interrogate the suspects, suggesting lines of questioning that might lead to us solving the murder. We eventually do – very democratically by voting for our most suspicious suspect! Apparently, that’s how all murders are solved in London!
The joy of this, is that I could return tomorrow and see an entirely different show. I’d be curious to see how they weave other ideas and plots into another murder investigation. It’s so funny, it would be a crime to miss it!
This show was reviewed on the 4th July 2025 at Wilton's Music Hall, London. To read more about the show and for further show dates visit: CSI:Crime Scene Improvisation
Review written by Ian Worsfold
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Photo credit : Andrew AB
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