BlankSlate, our school’s improv troupe, which is almost as old as the school itself, held its first performance of the new school year on October 11.

For a performance filled to the brim with first time performers, it was hilarious, with all of the members getting a chance to shine. Each and every skit was extremely well performed and very funny, and the audience was incorporated into almost every skit, with audience members being invited onto the stage and the troupe asking for skit theme suggestions. The performance began with a fantastic performance by our school’s dance team.

“I thought the performance was very good,” said Mr. Haberman, our school’s BlankSlate coach. “We had a terrific audience reaction.”

Iskandar Khabbaz, one of this year’s many first-year participants of BlankSlate, also praised the troupe’s first performance, saying it went “very nicely” and that the audience was “really great.”

Kaitlyn Senchak, another first-year performer, agreed, though she admitted that there were still things left for them to work on.

Chris Longo also thought the performance was a success, and said “it was the highlight of my week.” Longo is another one of the troupe’s first-year members, deciding to join this year after being invited onstage at one of last year’s performances.

During the performance, no one on the team seemed at all nervous, and there was great chemistry between the members of the troupe, with scarcely a dull or awkward moment throughout the entire show.

“Our performances usually have an audience of around 75, and this time almost 130 people came, so we were really pleased.” Haberman said, “We even had to move from the Black Box into the auditorium.”

Auditions for BlankSlate were held in September of this year, with approximately twenty five people auditioning, fourteen people making the cut, with four being alternates.

“I needed almost an entirely new team,” said Haberman, as last year’s troupe consisted mainly of seniors.

The troupe practices for their performances every Wednesday and Friday in rehearsals headed by Haberman, in which they rehearse skits and work on team building.

The next BlankSlate performance is being held in the Black Box on November 22.