Okay so PopRox woke up and chose violence.

The latest offering from Wellington improv stalwarts PopRox is SwapRox, a long-form improvised play in which its cast and crew are expected to swap roles periodically. Most of them are ill-equipped for anything but performing, and yet they manage to pull together the best improvised show Wellington’s seen in a long time.

The game is simple, yet effective. Narrator Tara McEntee comes out and introduces the play, getting a location from the audience to get started. Standard long-form stuff. Then the lights go haywire and a siren blares. Before McEntee is even able to finish introducing the characters and roles, the stage is thrust into madness. Hats are dropped. Keyboards abandoned. Performers scatter. Before you know it, everyone is back in a place, just not necessarily their place. And thus the show begins proper.

Every seven minutes, this loop repeats, giving the performers and audience just enough time to settle in, before throwing the show into disarray. It’s a gimmick that goes much further and deeper than I initially expected and lends itself to a plethora of wonderful surprises at every corner. Some players seem to have never touched a lighting board before. Others make the most of small discoveries. Characters evolve simply due to going through multiple interpretations via the myriad of performers. It’s all messy-presenting without missing a beat.

The performers are, of course, a selection of PopRox’s finest.

Nina Hogg is a bullet tonight, coming out firing on all cylinders and never stopping to reload. She loads up every single character with barrels of energy and smatterings of feminist messaging that become the backbone of the show. Lia Kelly has the audience in constant fits of laughter with incisive one-liners that zing out of nowhere. Her commitment to spontaneity is on full display, throwing herself into every role with charm and delight.

Though initially the narrator, Tara McEntee tears up the stage with staunch authority, owning the space and reminding the audience that this is a professional’s professional at work here. Her gravitas is unmatched, and her charisma never falters. Jed Davies is, as always, peak wit. Using a combination of hyper-specific references and joyful wordplay, he demonstrates why he’s considered one of the smartest improvisers in town.

Out-of-towner Ryan Knighton proves why he’s asked back again and again by engaging the audience from the get-go. He doesn’t let this vibe slip away, and peppers his performance with sneaky looks at the audience who power him right back. Mo Munn delivers a stellar performance with her signature chaotic energy that slowly but surely feeds into the rest of the performers. She perfects the art of Flanderisation, jumping into a new character, fueling them with a burst of Mo power, forever changing them for the rest of the play.

Finally, we have Campbell Wright who is simply excellent tonight. He is constantly receptive to the offers of his fellow performers and builds on them with the skill of a seasoned performer. His attention to the narrative is phenomenal, keeping track of all the story threads whilst putting out character work that’s convincing and electrifying. He’s playing out of his mind tonight, and everyone notices.

There’s a beautiful sense of discovery in this show. It’s very clear when performers are out of their depth with unfamiliar roles. Keyboards are played with index fingers only, inappropriately boppy tracks are played over sombre moments, the lights go haywire but there is absolute silence broken only by a cry of ‘how do I turn on the sound?‘. It’s frantic, energetic, and really really funny. It always feels like we’re discovering the seams of an improv show along with the performers and it’s such a joy to follow along.

That’s what good improv should evoke. The audience is along for the ride, seeing how the world is built around them. It’s immersive, thrilling and so supportive. Performers throw prompts to each other to keep the show moving. They help each other through the struggles of picking up a completely random part of the production and you feel so safe knowing the cast has each other’s backs. My favourite bit in the show was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment where Campbell is pushing buttons, confused at the keyboard he finds himself in charge of, only for Lia to quietly make adjustments to help him get to where he wants to be. A good improv troupe supports each other. PopRox is a great one.

In my last review, I mentioned that the lack of challenge in the Wellington improv scene was detrimental to both PopRox and the scene as a whole. That it was a waste of PopRox’s efforts if the wider community didn’t answer the call and push them to innovate. SwapRox is a fantastic answer and the call’s coming from inside the house. The message is clear. If nobody else is going to challenge PopRox, then they’re just going to have to do it themselves. The performers looked like they were having the most fun I’ve seen them have in ages. I had fun watching improv for the first time in ages. This is what one troupe is capable of. We have the resources to do even more. PopRox can pave the way, but the rest of the scene has to follow.

I’ve been saying ‘improv is dead’ for a while now, and its shambling corpse should just be folded into the wider comedy scene. That it should be used as a tool in service of greater comedic artforms, as opposed to the lynchpin of shows in their entirety. PopRox brilliantly shut me the fuck up.

There’s not much more I really need to say other than SwapRox reminded me of why I fell in love with improv in the first place. It nails the feelings of discovery and support, while demonstrating the skills that all the performers have been honing for years. PopRox are the best goddamn improvisers in the city. They unfold my arms and wipe the jaded grumpiness off my face.

So yes, fine, maybe improv is good, actually.

Disclosure: As a somewhat active member of the Wellington performing arts community, I may be quite familiar with a number of the performers in this show. Having said that, I am not a liar, and there is zero bias in my reviews, shut up.

Also, tickets were provided to me for free by the production. Literally changes nothing, though