Calendar

“This year’s show marks a departure from our recent Halloween performances in that we’re exploring spooky themes instead of satirizing spooky genres,” says company director Greg Hohn. “So we’ll delve into the odd and unexplainable, dreams, obsessions, uneasiness, and mortality. It should be good, weird fun and very different from your average improv show.”

Now in its 35th season, Transactors Improv strives to wed improvisation and theater with an emphasis on emotional reality, three-dimensional characters, compelling storylines, and physicality.

The cast for “The Spooky Show” includes Anoo Brod, Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Juliet Kaplan, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson. Jenn Evans handles technical effects.

Transactors Improv begins its 35th season with “The Last Resort,” an unscripted show based on audience suggestions. This long-form piece is basically an improvised one-act play. While the performance takes place at Walltown Children’s Theatre, it is intended for adult audiences and should be considered PG-13.

The cast includes Anoo Tree Brod, director Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Juliet Kaplan, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson. Jenn Evans handles lights and sound.

“One Night in Durham” will include short, stand-alone scenes as well as an extended piece that is basically a one-act play. This long form will follow characters as they intermingle on a single night in the vibrant, evolving, and unique city that is Durham.

Transactors Improv features Anoo Tree Brod, director Greg Hohn, Juliet Kaplan, Bart Hubbard, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson. Jenn Evans handles light, sound, and stage management.

The two-act improvised performance follows seven characters as they lead their lives in an American small town. Scenes are interspersed with interviews during which the characters take questions from the audience, thus giving the audience an opportunity to shape the characters and their experiences.

“It’s pretty rare that you get a chance to talk to characters in a play,” says director Greg Hohn. “You might ask them how they really feel about another character or some event that just happened. Or maybe you can ask the character to reveal a secret dream or a secret shame. It’s a chance to create subtext in a play that doesn’t have text. We’ve used interview formats in performances before and they’re always an adventure for both the audience and us.

“Our decision to set the show in a nowhere town stemmed from wondering what’s going on these days in the minds of people in Middle America, away from big cities and college towns.”

The cast for “Nowhere, U.S.A.” includes Anoo Tree Brod, Greg Hohn, Juliet Kaplan, Bart Hubbard, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson. Glenn Mehrbach provides piano accompaniment and Jenn Evans handles lights and sound.

The two-act show will be made up of several episodes based on audience suggestions about what we love. It could be love of a person, a place, a thing, a memory, or something entirely different. Crispy Bess provides musical accompaniment for the show on the world’s most beloved instrument, the accordion.

“We Transactors love doing shows about love because the emotions and stakes run so high,” says director Greg Hohn. “This year we decided to broaden the scope of the Love Show. In these troubling times we could all benefit from sharing our love.

“And ‘Love Is All Around’ was also the theme song for ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show,’ which had a big impact on many of us in the company and also featured alumni of The Second City improv theater. Both Mary Tyler Moore and her most famous character, Mary Richards, were lovely people who excelled at spreading love instead of hostility. So our show is kind of a tribute to Mary although we don’t intend to recreate her show.”

The cast for “Love Is All Around” includes Anoo Tree Brod, Greg Hohn, Juliet Kaplan, Bart Hubbard, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson.

Common Ground Theater
Ray’s Diner sits on a two-lane highway just outside a small southern town. A few years after the diner opened in 1972, an Interstate highway bypassed the town. Yet Ray’s persists, a haven for hungry souls: regulars and random passersby, truckers and drifters, businesspeople and families on vacation. You never know who’ll wander into Ray’s.

Transactors Improv serves up “Ray’s Diner,” a long-form spontaneous theater piece. The cast are Anoo Tree Brod, Bart Hubbard, Greg Hohn, Juliet Kaplan, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson. Mike Beard improvises technical effects.

Let’s all shake, move, and boogie to the beat! We’ll explore the joy of dance and music and actually dance to some music for our mid-show dance break! Come join us as we improvise scenes based on your suggestions.

The cast includes director Anoo Tree Brod, Juliet Kaplan, and Steve Scott.

The cast for this Halloween show includes director Anoo Tree Brod, Bart Hubbard and Juliet Kaplan.

“The Scary Show” both pays homage to and spoofs film and television styles and themes, ranging from classic black-and-white movies through Alfred Hitchcock and “The Twilight Zone” to current approaches.

The entire performance is scored by Killer Filler, the instrumental surf/rock/soul band from Hillsborough that has been delighting fans since 2004.

Based on audience suggestions, this performance is made up on the spot by the south’s longest-running improv theater as it begins its 34th season.

Special guest Deb Aronin joins company regulars Anoo Brod, director Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Juliet Kaplan, and Steve Scott in the cast.

Over the years we Transactors have done lots of shows about small-town life but this is our first that focuses on the challenges and rewards of the big city. Strange and wonderful things happen to people when you cram a lot of them into a relatively small space.

Of course we’ve done a lot of improvised music over the years and this show gives us a chance to continue the work we pioneered in this region. We’re very fortunate to have pianist Glenn Mehrbach as our accompanist.

The cast: Anoo Brod, director Greg Hohn, Juliet Kaplan, Bart Hubbard, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson. Mike Beard is in charge of lights and sound.

But the Oscars aren’t the only thing on imaginary TV this night; Transactors will channel surf as well and you may find yourself suddenly watching ESPN, Lifetime, or a reality show! It’s just like watching the Oscars on TV, only it’s live, all made up on the spot, and doesn’t last six hours!

Anoo Brod and Juliet Kaplan co-direct the show and are joined in the cast by Bart Hubbard, Steve Scott, Jane Allen Wilson, and guest Deb Aronin.

The two-act show will be made up of several episodes about characters looking for love. Will they find the love of their lives, have their hearts crunched, or experience something in between? Featuring live music, the performance is spontaneous, unscripted, and based on audience suggestions.

“Nothing brings us greater joy—or sorrow—than romantic love,” says director Greg Hohn. “The stakes are so high and that makes for rich scenes and lots of comedic potential. Improvisers love playing situations that are fraught with risk.”

The cast for The Love Show includes Anoo Brod, Hohn, Juliet Kaplan, Bart Hubbard, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson. Glenn Mehrbach is the piano accompanist and Jenn Evans handles lights and sound.

It’s “Holiday in Rio,” a holiday show about escaping the holidays! Follow several characters as they flee winter and traditional celebrations for warmth and adventure in Rio de Janeiro. What are they running from and what will they run into? This show is based on audience suggestions and set to the bossa nova soundtrack of Onda (http://www.ondaband.com/), the Brazilian jazz quartet.

“This show was inspired by a couple of things,” explains director Greg Hohn. “I heard Onda playing this summer and found their music to be so wonderfully performed and evocative that I immediately wanted to find an opportunity for Transactors to collaborate with them.

“Then I remembered that last year we Transactors were discussing what we loved about Christmas and winter and one of us mentioned hating it and wanting to get away. So pair that with wanting to work with Onda and voila! After all, most of us could use a little balminess in December anyway, right?”

Although it’s improvised, this performance will seem much more like a play than a series of games or sketches.

Transactors first began working in this style, called long form, in 1995 and the company prides itself on its storytelling and theatrical aesthetic.

Onda (the Portuguese word for “wave”) creates a distinctive sound playing arrangements of songs which are rarely performed elsewhere. Formed in April 2014, Onda brings together experienced musicians who share a passion for both Brazilian jazz and musical exploration. The quartet features Stephen Coffman (vibraphone), Nelson Johns (guitar), Eric Meyer (upright bass), and Josh Stohl (percussion).

The cast for Holiday in Rio includes Anoo Brod, director Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Juliet Kaplan, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson. Jenn Evans improvises technical effects.

The ArtsCenter, 300 E Main St, Carrboro, North Carolina 27510

“The Spooky Show,” Transactors’ annual improvised tribute to horror, suspense, sci-fi, and the just plain weird, returns to The ArtsCenter stage Oct. 23. Featuring a live soundtrack by instrumental rockers Killer Filler, the show is made up of five distinct episodes, each dedicated to a spooky sub-genre.

“The Spooky Show” both pays homage to and spoofs film and television styles and themes, ranging from classic black-and-white movies through Alfred Hitchcock and “The Twilight Zone” to current approaches.

The entire performance is scored by Killer Filler, the instrumental surf/rock/soul band from Hillsborough that has been delighting fans since 2004. This is the fifth collaboration between Killer Filler and Transactors, which has also included “Surf Christmas.”

“Exploring spooky genres isn’t typical fare for improv and that makes it both challenging and fun,” says director Greg Hohn. “We don’t play it just for laughs. I’ve gotten goose bumps in some of the scenes we’ve done and surprised audience members have come up to us after our spooky shows and told us they were really creeped out! We’ll take that as a compliment.”

The cast for “The Spooky Show” includes Anoo Brod, Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Juliet Kaplan, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson. Mike Beard handles lighting and sound effects.

The Killer Filler lineup is Crispy Bess (keyboard and guitar), Bryon Settle (guitar), Greg Bowers (guitar), Steve Eisenstadt (bass), and Paco Robles (drums).

Common Ground Theater

Transactors starts its 2015-16 main stage season with Reality Prov, an improvised performance about reality TV. Reality Prov follows five eager improvisers vying to win one special Impro-tunity. Invited to the intensive residential Improv Boot Camp, these players have to face and ace challenges put to them by their stern taskmaster.

This show has everything you want to see in reality TV: alliances and intrigue, sex and romance, crushing failures and glorious triumphs, competition and collaboration, and mountains made from molehills. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at something totally fake!

The cast for this performance includes Anoo Brod, director Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Juliet Kaplan, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson.

Everything is made up on the spot, and the content is appropriate for children and adults… and adults who act like children.

The cast is director Anoo Brod, Bart Hubbard, and Juliet Kaplan. This 45-minute performance features short-form improv, individual scenes running 5-10 minutes.

It’s hot outside; cool down with “Transactors Improv: For Families!” Family-friendly and based on your suggestions, this show is sure to tickle and delight audience members of all ages. Director Bart Hubbard is joined in the cast by Jane Allen Wilson and Steve Scott.

“(Our 10-year-old) is still quoting from the Transactors show… How nice to see a show that was absolutely appropriate and entertaining for her age and fun for the parents as well!” writes one happy parent.

Common Ground Theater

Modern romance calls for modern measures—like online dating. Transactors Improv explores this phenomenon up close and personal in “On Line In Love”

Can you find love online? How do you present yourself in the best way? Are people being honest? Is there such a thing as online chemistry? And what happens when you finally meet in person?

“On Line In Love” will follow a few lonely and hopeful hearts as they experience joys, tribulations, and possibly revelations. You’ll cringe as the characters have awkward dates, giggle during the goofy ones, and maybe even sigh at a romantic one.

This new show is conceived and directed by Anoo Brod and Bart Hubbard, who are both fascinated by dating stories, whether told by friends or on television like “The Bachelor” or “Millionaire Matchmaker.”

The cast for “On Line In Love” includes guests Shay Hall and Tamara Kissane, along with Transactors regulars Anoo Tree Brod, Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Juliet Case Kaplan, Stephen G Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson. Jenn Evans handles lighting and sound effects.

No, Transactors Improv isn’t going the way of the dodo. Instead Last Words is the theme for this two-act show.

Act one is short, unconnected scenes and the second part is an extended piece that lends its name to the show. In this form, the company will use audience members’ suggestions of what that they think or hope will be in their obituaries—and what will be left out. Each suggestion taken will be the basis for one of the six short episodes that comprise the form.

What will people say about you when you’re gone? What will your legacy be? You can find out without having to die by coming to see Transactors on April 11!

Special guest Eric Singdahlsen joins the company as both piano accompanist and as an actor. The rest of the cast includes Anoo Brod, director Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Juliet Kaplan, and Jane Allen Wilson. Jenn Evans masters technical effects from the booth.

Common Ground Theater

Ray’s Diner sits on a two-lane highway just outside a small southern town. A few years after the diner opened in 1972, an Interstate highway bypassed the town. Yet Ray’s persists, a haven for hungry souls: regulars and random passersby, truckers and drifters, businesspeople and families on vacation. You never know who’ll wander into Ray’s.

Transactors Improv serves up Ray’s Diner, a long-form spontaneous theater piece. Bart Hubbard makes his directorial debut with the company. Joining Hubbard in the cast are Anoo Tree Brod, Greg Hohn, Juliet Case Kaplan, Stephen G Scott, and guests Chiffy Eisner and Tamara Kissane.

Some of the characters from previous Ray’s Diner shows may return, but no backstory knowledge is needed to enjoy the story that will unfold at this show.

Come celebrate love with us in this special 1-time Valentines Day show:

BE MINE–OR ELSE..

“Shane (age 6) has officially caught the improv bug. He surprised me by volunteering to go up on stage at the show this evening. All the way home, he said he wants to do more improv and that he loved it.” Jen Kelley

“I can’t’ think of a show I’ve seen recently that I’ve enjoyed more. My teen-aged son Tristan and I were laughing the whole time.” Alan Goldstein

Made-up-on-the-spot and intended for families with kids in grades K-8. Like old Bugs Bunny cartoons, it’s aimed at younger audiences but has lots to amuse grownups too.

The cast includes director Anoo Brod, Bart Hubbard, and Steve Scott.

It’s time to climb aboard the love roller coaster! The Love Show is an improvised look at the ups and downs of romantic relationships. Are we screaming from joy, fear, or something else?

The two-act show features short and long improvised scenes, all based on audience suggestions and all focused on love. The first act is unrelated scenes, featuring music with pianist Glenn Mehrbach. The second part is a long form, an unscripted play comprised of interrelated scenes.

“Romantic love brings out the best—and worst—in all of us,” says director Greg Hohn. “What could be more important and risky? It’s a playground for improvisers. Plus we get to kiss each other a lot.”

The cast for The Love Show includes Anoo Brod, Greg Hohn, Juliet Kaplan, Bart Hubbard, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson. Jenn Evans handles lights and sound.

This made-up-on-the-spot show is intended for families with kids in grades K-8. Like old Bugs Bunny cartoons, it’s aimed at younger audiences but has lots to amuse grownups too.

The cast includes director Anoo Brod, Bart Hubbard, and Steve Scott.

Audience member Jen writes, “Shane has officially caught the improv bug. He surprised me by volunteering to go up on stage at the Transactors for Families show this evening. All the way home, he said he wants to do more improv and that he loved it.”

The cast includes director Anoo Brod, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson.

The diner, one long room with booths and a counter with fixed stools, is clean but hasn’t been renovated since it opened its doors. The town may be small but Ray’s is a gateway to a larger world.

Transactors’ first visit to Ray’s in September was a great success. “We did some very sophisticated group work and I think we also invented a new way to edit scenes, imitating video fast-forward,” says company director Greg Hohn. “We also had a lot of fun and, judging by their response, so did the audience.”

Transactors Improv serves up Ray’s Diner, a long-form spontaneous theater piece. The cast will be Anoo Brod, Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Juliet Kaplan, Steve Scott, Jane Allen Wilson, and guests Tamara Kissane and Rick Skarbez.

There is no late seating for this show.

“The Scary Show” both pays homage to and spoofs film and television styles and themes, ranging from classic black-and-white movies through Alfred Hitchcock and “The Twilight Zone” to more modern approaches.

Each episode is scored by Killer Filler, the instrumental surf/rock/soul band from Hillsborough that has been delighting fans since 2004. This is the fourth collaboration between Killer Filler and Transactors.

“Working with horror and suspense is challenging and a lot of fun,” says director Greg Hohn. “I’ve gotten goose bumps in some of the scenes we’ve done and audience members have come up to us after our scary shows and told us they were really creeped out!”

The cast for The Scary Show includes guests Tamara Kissane and Juliet Kaplan, along with Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson. Jenn Evans handles lighting and sound effects.

The Killer Filler lineup is Crispy Bess (keyboard and guitar), Bryon Settle (guitar), Greg Bowers (guitar), Steve Eisenstadt (bass), and Paco Robles (drums).

Doors open at 7:00 pm and the performance begins at 8:00. Your ticket includes a complimentary drink and butlered hors d¹oeuvres. There’s also a cash bar.

Visit ECUARTS.COM or call 252-328-4788.

The diner, one long room with booths and a counter with fixed stools, is clean but hasn’t been renovated since it opened its doors. The town may be small but Ray’s is a gateway to a larger world.

Transactors Improv serves up “Ray’s Diner,” a long-form spontaneous theater piece. The cast will be Anoo Brod, Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Steve Scott, and guests Shay Hall, Juliet Kaplan, and Rachel Klem.

Audience member Jen writes, “Shane has officially caught the improv bug. He surprised me by volunteering to go up on stage at the Transactors for Families show this evening. All the way home, he said he wants to do more improv and that he loved it.”

The cast is Bart Hubbard, director Anoo Tree Brod and Dan Sipp.

Audience member Jen writes, “Shane has officially caught the improv bug. He surprised me by volunteering to go up on stage at the Transactors for Families show this evening. All the way home, he said he wants to do more improv and that he loved it.”

The cast is Bart Hubbard and Jane Allen Wilson.

The show features guest performers Shay Hall, Juliet Kaplan, Rachel Klem, Dana Marks, Jay O’Berski, Dan Sipp, and Rick Skarbez, along with the usual Transactors crew: Anoo Brod, director Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson.

There is no late seating for this show.

Audiences continue to say nice things about Transactors Improv: For Families!

“Amazing, engaging, charming, hilarious entertainment… The only complaint I could possibly have is that it will be over too soon.” – Annabel Stehli

“I can’t think of a show I’ve seen recently that I’ve enjoyed more. My teen-aged son Tristan and I were laughing the whole time.” – Alan Goldstein

The cast for Transactors Improv: For Families! includes Anoo Brod and Bart Hubbard.

Appropriate for children age 6 and above.

In the first act the audience will see some of the scenes and games that have been crowd favorites at Transactors shows for years. Included in these short, discrete scenes is a mini-musical featuring piano accompanist Glenn Mehrbach. The first act will also include a piece running 10-15 minutes (a medium form) and comprised of multiple short scenes and vignettes exploring a theme at breakneck pace.

The second act will be an improvised short play (long form), “Three Words.” Audience members will write adjectives on slips of paper and place them in a hat on stage before the act. Each player selects three slips and bases his or her character on those words.

“This show will challenge us to work in a lot of different ways,” says director Greg Hohn. “It should also be a lot of exciting fun, in part because there will be so many opportunities for audience members to contribute their ideas.”

The cast for “From Soup to Nuts” includes Anoo Brod, Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson. Jenn Evans and Dave Schmitt handle technical effects.

Audiences continue to say nice things about Transactors Improv: For Families!

“Amazing, engaging, charming, hilarious entertainment… The only complaint I could possibly have is that it will be over too soon,” Annabel Stehli

“Marleigh (age 10) is STILL quoting from the Transactors show… how nice to see a show that was absolutely appropriate and entertaining for her age AND fun for the parents as well!” Page Purgar

The cast for Transactors Improv: For Families! includes Anoo Brod, Bart Hubbard, and Dan Sipp.

The pleasures and pains of romantic love are the theme when Transactors Improv takes The ArtsCenter stage for “The Love Show.” This two-act performance is wholly improvised and based on audience suggestions.

“We love ‘The Love Show,’” says director Greg Hohn. “What’s more exciting than romance, sex, and all their trappings? The stakes always seem to be so high”

The first act will consist of short, unrelated scenes, including some involving music and featuring pianist Glenn Mehrbach. Act Two will be a long form, meaning it is a short, unscripted play comprised of interrelated scenes.

“There will be kissing,” Hohn promises. “This show arose in the 90s out of our desire to create scenes involving intimacy, something improv historically struggled to do. Once we started working on intimacy it developed into a show and now it’s a company tradition.”

The cast for “The Love Show” includes Anoo Brod, Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson. Jenn Evans handles lights and sound.

“This year’s musical focuses on journeys,” says director Greg Hohn. “They could be literal or metaphorical. A lot of people find themselves on the road at this time of year and they’re often traveling in time too as they recall holidays past or think about the new year and the future. It’s a time when we often reflect on changes in our lives.”

The show will be a unified story rather than short, disconnected scenes. Everything is improvised, including the melodies, lyrics, and choreography.

Transactors resurrected their holiday musical tradition last year after taking a few years away from it. The show featured a drunken Santa, naughty children, a gay firefighter finding acceptance in the firehouse, a granny in prison, a hot fire dance, a happy ending, and a roaring finale that had the audience singing along with the cast—no small task when you’re making it up as you go along.

“We’re so happy to have Ashley and Rick back with us this year,” Hohn says of Melzer and Skarbez, who are regulars at DSI in Carrboro. Transactors members Anoo Brod, Hohn, Bart Hubbard, Steve Scott, and Jane Allen Wilson make up the rest of the cast. Mike Beard masters technical effects from the booth.

“The three-piece orchestra makes up in talent and energy for what they lack in size,” adds Hohn.

Musical director Glenn Mehrbach first worked with Transactors in 2000. Formerly musical director for cabaret chanteuse Andrea Marcovicci, and pianist and arranger for Carolina Ballet, Glenn is currently Music Director at Community Church of Chapel Hill, Unitarian Universalist, Music Performance Instructor at Camelot Academy in Durham, and Staff Associate in the Music and Theatre departments at Duke University.

Drummer Rob Ladd has a resume as long as your arm with a drumstick in it. He has played on recordings by and on tour with artists including Roger Daltrey, Susanna Hoffs, Alanis Morissette, Tom Paxton, the Red Clay Ramblers, and the Pressure Boys.

Clarinetist Fred Jacobowitz received bachelors and masters degrees from the Juilliard School and made his New York Debut at Carnegie Recital Hall (now Weill Hall) as winner of the Artists International Competition. After establishing a career in New York, Jacobowitz became Principal Clarinetist in the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra (1989-2002). He is equally at home in the worlds of classical, jazz, folk, and klezmer. He has performed as recitalist and soloist throughout the US and Canada and in Panama.

“Our first episode of this show had our explorers visiting a primitive culture in which the denizens couldn’t bend their arms and were too close. Later they encountered residents of the neighboring village who couldn’t straighten their arms and were too far. It all ended reasonably well with a death offset by an onstage birth,” reports director Greg Hohn.

The cast for The Explorers includes former Transactor (1997-2006) Steve Scott, who returns to the company as a full member in this show, along with Mike Beard, Anoo Brod, director Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, and Jane Allen Wilson.

Everything is made up on the spot, and the content is appropriate for children and adults… and adults who act like children.

The cast for Transactors Improv: For Families! includes Anoo Brod and Bart Hubbard with Mike Beard improvising technical effects.

“Day of the Dead” will draw heavily on film and television themes and forms, ranging from classic black-and-white horror movies through Alfred Hitchcock and The Twilight Zone to slasher pics and works based on the writing of Stephen King and others.

All of it will have the instrumental surf/rock/soul backing of Killer Filler, the Hillsborough-based band that has been delighting fans since 2004. This is the third collaboration between Killer Filler and Transactors.

“Working with horror and suspense is challenging and a lot of fun,” says director Greg Hohn. “I’ve gotten goose bumps in some of the scenes we’ve done and one of the best compliments we’ve received is when someone came up to us after a show and said, ‘That was really creepy!’ The show is both an homage to and spoof of horror forms and it’s also about fear and how we like to savor it sometimes.”

The cast for “Day of the Dead” includes special guest Jeffrey Moore along with Anoo Tree Brod, Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, and Jane Allen Wilson. Mike Beard handles lighting and sound effects.

The Killer Filler lineup is Crispy Bess (keyboard and guitar), Bryon Settle (guitar), Greg Bowers (guitar), Steve Eisenstadt (bass), and Paco Robles (drums).

Transactors Improv presents “The Explorers” Oct. 4 at Common Ground Theatre in Durham. This show is a “pilot” for a potential Transactors improvised stage series.

“Reading about Alexander von Humboldt’s explorations in South America in the early 1800s inspired this show,” says director Greg Hohn. “What must it have been like to encounter completely foreign people, animals, and environments? More recently NASA’s Voyager 1 left the solar system and that opened up even more possibilities for us.”

Hohn adds, “The theme of exploration really fits for us too because we’re not sure what we’ll find as we discover the piece itself. It might be a spoof, it might contain social commentary, or it could be a mixture of any number of elements. It will definitely have some funny elements if our experiments in rehearsal are any indication.”

The cast for “The Explorers” will include Transactors regulars Mike Beard, Anoo Brod, Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, and Jane Allen Wilson.

Everything is made up on the spot, and the content is appropriate for children and adults… and adults who act like children.

The cast for Transactors Improv: For Families! includes Anoo Brod and Bart Hubbard with Mike Beard improvising technical effects.

Everything is made up on the spot, and the content is appropriate for children and adults… and adults who act like children.

The cast for Transactors Improv: For Families! includes Anoo Brod and Bart Hubbard with Mike Beard improvising technical effects.

Among those in the cast are original member Martha Brown and past members Regina Bartolone, Nancy Pekar, Eric Singdahlsen, Dan Sipp, and Kathy Williams. Current Transactors playing will be Anoo Brod, Greg Hohn, Bart Hubbard, and Jane Allen Wilson, with Mike Beard handling lighting and sound effects. Pianist Glenn Mehrbach is the guest accompanist.

“We are so grateful for all the support we have received from audiences and presenters over the years,” says Hohn. “For us this really is a party and we’ll have a meet-the-players reception after the show.”

“The show is called ‘Generations’ because that’s its recurring theme,” explains director Greg Hohn. “We have two different generations of performers doing short improv scenes with their respective groups in the first act. In Act Two the combined cast will improvise a 45-minute play based on the interactions of three generations of a fictional family. Naturally, all of this will start with audience suggestions”

“We are delighted to be sharing the stage with CHiPs,” adds Hohn. “They’ve been around since 1995—not the current members, obviously—but this will be the first time we’ve collaborated like this. We expect we’ll all learn from each other and have a great time too.”

In the spirit of the occasion we’re offering specially discounted $5 tickets just for students for this show.