Arts & Culture

What: Hookup
Where: Factory Theatre, Studio Theatre, 125 Bathurst St.
When: Now, until Sat., Feb. 15
Highlight: Delightful audience interaction that drives the plot
Rating: NNNN (out of 5)
Why you should go: Romantic tomfoolery brought to life

SINGLE ON Valentine’s Day? Do not fear, because at Bad Dog Theatre’s Hookup you may be selected to be set up with another single on the spot … kind of.

Walking into Factory Theatre’s Studio Theatre, Valentine’s Day decorations abound, including candy bowls, free valentines to take and even a pink photo wall (with a ring light and everything). Lights come up on stage to six performers from a rotating cast of nine from Bad Dog Theatre. On my particular night, Paul Bates, Christy Bruce, Alastair Forbes, Kirsten Rasmussen and Sharjil Rasool introduce themselves and begin to interrogate the audience. They ask who’s married, who’s in a relationship, and as they ask the singles to reveal themselves, the lights snap up. Here starts the fun: they interview one single, asking what they’re looking for in a partner and then find another single in the audience who (ideally) fits that description. The improv comedy show that ensues is the story of what might happen if the two audience members actually do “hook up.”

This show is different every single night and improvised on the spot: a familiar concept but not an easy feat. On the night I saw this show, there were surprisingly barren pickings of single audience members. This resulted in, hilariously, the improv comedy pros having to try to create a story between a straight woman and a gay may hooking up … which they, surprisingly, succeeded at. (Spoiler alert: it was a threesome with an Australian man named Carl.)

This concept by creator, director and performer Paul Bates is kind of the perfect Valentine’s Day ploy: watch two people connect on stage for the first time, including all of the possible awkwardness and bizzarro occurrences that romance can bring. In 70 minutes, this troupe of actors brought an unlikely platonic love story filled with callbacks, side plots and a wacky host of characters. They stayed true to the original audience member’s intentions, even sometimes breaking out of character to ask for clarification or extra details to incorporate into the bits. This ensemble was quick on their feet and wasn’t afraid to push the envelope while remaining respectful of the audience volunteers. Some highlights from the performance I saw were an improv-show-within-an-improv-show sequence, a relationship with God (who, of course, is into dudes) and a ’90s romcom-esque grand gesture scene to win over the main character’s platonic love.

These genuinely funny scenes and plots are further elevated by technical director Seann Murray, in the booth, who is doing lights and sound on the fly to go along to the improvised storylines. Music plays in the background of the scenes, matching the tone and plot of what’s unfolding. And, rest assured, Murray is paying sharp attention to what’s going on on stage. For example, an offhand Les Misérables joke from a cast member on my night resulted in an instrumental underscore of Bring Him Home playing for the rest of the scene.

As the show ended, the audience volunteers’ slight humiliation was not for naught, as they were rewarded with drink tickets and a photo together at the photo booth … perhaps providing them with a real-life chance at a meet-cute? Look, is this show a little gimmicky? Yes, but the Valentine’s gimmicks of Hookup are undeniably adorable. This show is a gut-laugh inducing 70 minutes with this team of improv comedy pros; and with a new show every night, I’m tempted to go back and see their shenanigans again.