It’s good to see so many people out and about at the Sydney Comedy Festival (SCF). One of the SCF venues is the Factory Space, Marrickville, where there are three theatre spaces and shows running simultaneously. There are crowds of people (social distancing) in the food stalls and there are plenty of couched and chaired areas to relax in while waiting for your show to begin.

UNPLANNED MELODIES  begins with two people on stage. Just when you think that’s it, another person appears. Then another and another until the small platform is packed with six  skilled improv performers and a keyboard player. Together they create dialogue and skits based on the suggestions offered by audience members. Mostly it  works. It’s sometimes raucous, sometimes lyrical and always fun. These seven performers have been improvising acts since 2017. They make up songs and in an instant. These ditties and scenarios have never been acted out ever before and could never be repeated. That’s the joy of improv.

The UNPLANNED MELODIES team have trained with Improv Theatre Sydney (ITS), and internationally with iO Theatre in Chicago and The Upright Citizens Brigade in New York. They comprise the clever and talented Alex Williams, Amanda Hood, Chloe Latham, Kate Knott, Angela Bradburn, Danii Johnstone, Madeleine Stokes and Nick Harriott on keyboard.

UNPLANNED MELODIES played the Factory Theatre, Marrickville on Saturday May 1  and Sunday May 2, 2021.