Ukiah Players Theatre veteran actor Chuck Mordock and Artistic Director Evan Gaustad have been fooling around on the stage for a long time. Since high school, in fact. One was in an improv group called “The Hooligans” and the other was in another group: “The Upstarts.”
“Even back then, I used to meet with the artistic director of UPT to see if there was time for the Improv kids to put on a show. I always wanted to get teens on the stage, and now we’re making that a priority,” says Gaustad.
Starting June 9 until the 21st, a two-week Teen Summer Comedy Session for kids 13-18 will involve the creation of original sketches for stage and also for film. “We will have guest instructors, including Martha Magruder and her husband, Tyler Pavey, who will be presenting a short film they made as well as creating a short film from the session,” Gaustad continues. Along with Mordock, other guest artists include Kelly Lohman, Ryan Bailey, Nicholas Clark and the Hardly Artists Film Production team. The summer session is funded in part by a grant from the Community Foundation of Mendocino County.
“The goal is to go back to our high school sketch comedy,” says Mordock. There will be six shows for all the enrollees to attend for free during the two weekends. “This isn’t just a comedy training session, but also a small festival with a showcase at the end,” says Gaustad.
“We’re starting with a super blank slate,” says Gaustad. “We’ll use improv elements to find the sketches and go into small groups from there. The idea is to come up with as many ideas as we can, create filmed and live material, learn how to navigate super-fast costume changes and quick set changes and create a final performance.”
“It’s kind of a reincarnation of the UPT Writers, Actors and Directors Festival, where people from the community would have 24 hours to create a short play. We’ve got two weeks to do this, It’s going to be our own little SNL,” says Mordock.
“Twice as good as SNL,” says Gaustad.
Since February, between 10-20 students have been meeting at UPT every Friday for “Sharetime,” an informal, free class which involves talk, improv, filming or “whatever comes up,” according to Gaustad.
‘Evan tries to hold this space together and I will try to put some structure in the situation,” smiles Mordock. The students who have arrived for Sharetime have quite a bit to say about Gaustad. One of the students notes: “My dad says he remembers you from high school. The next time he saw you was in a Taco Bell commercial,” to laughs from the students.
“Evan, even though I think you live an average life with two kids, your backwards hat outshines it all,” smiles Harper Olsen.
“Evan, your hairline is getting really impressive,” notes Henley Parrish.
Jade Lukas says, “I would like to point out that I started with the improv troupe when I was 11. I was very scared, Evan helped me become more extroverted, and even though I wasn’t funny, he was really nice to me. I started believing in my confidence.”
“Evan, I’ve known you for many years. You get to see the side of me that my classmates don’t,” says Tiago Rall.
“Eden Scott has become a highly successful lightboard operator,” says Gaustad.
“Counting my parents, Evan is my third favorite adult,” notes Scott. “I’m very much enjoying being a lightboard operator. I love interacting with everyone here, even though they are adults and they are terrifying.”
“Evan has helped me make great friendships. I have an improv workshop in two hours, and here they all are,” says Grey Simorsen.
Prema Piralta says, “Evan has been very supportive of my improv skills. Even if you mess up in a show, there’s always next time. He makes sure we’re all going to be at every show. He’s a very good improv teacher.”
“I’ve been coming for a couple years. It’s super cool,” says Natalie Ortiz. To Gaustad, she says, “I’m glad you’re wearing shoes now. It’s a great improvement!”
“Evan, I wish to kidnap you, take you to my house, remodel you into a ninth-grader, brainwash you so you forget what I did to you, enroll you in school, graduate you in my senior year and go on our senior trip,” says Reese Martin.
Apollo Anderson says, “I used to be the shyest kid that ever existed. I was staring at walls and not talking to audiences. Now I’m not shy and I’m talking to audiences, thanks to Evan, because he’s awesome.”
Tuition for the Summer Session includes admission to evening shows by the guest artists on June 12, 13, 14 and 19. For more information and to register, visit www.ukiahplayerstheatre.org or phone (707) 462-9226.
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