"Family Dinner" at the Dudley Riggs Theatre

After the tragic closure of HUGE Theater this fall, only a year after opening their new space in Uptown, a bunch of improv shows needed to find new homes. Some of them organized as The Neighborhood, performing monthly at Jungle Theater just a few blocks away. Some of them moved to Strike Theater in Northeast Minneapolis, some of them found or created other spaces. Happily, my all-time favorite improv show Family Dinner has found a new home at Dudley Riggs Theatre where Brave New Workshop (the oldest comedy troupe in the country) performs, operated by Hennepin Arts. With just eight shows performed to sold out houses, hopefully Family Dinner will be back at its new home on Hennepin Avenue for years to come, so that we can experience this communal Family Dinner that's both absurd and grounded in reality, both laugh-out-loud funny and heart-warming, as we get to know a new and uniquely wacky family each time. There are two remaining performances this year, but if you want to go you should get your tickets now before they sell out (I have some friends who waited too long and missed out on the fun). For real, click this link and buy your tickets now, I'll wait here.

Family Dinner was created by Molly Ritchie some 20 years ago, and performed at HUGE Theater for the last 13 years (they even charmingly moved to zoom family dinners in 2020, like we all did). The premise is simple; a group of improvisors create a story in which a family gathers for a holiday* dinner. It's usually parents with adult children and various friends, spouses, aunts, etc., but really could be any family configuration. In the first act we watch the characters and relationships develop and grow before our eyes, until it feels like this is a real family that's always existed. Then after a quick break they come back for Act Two, which is my favorite part: they actually eat real food (including a bird the size of what the Cratchit family ate, making Molly's joke about Family Dinner being just like the Guthrie's A Christmas Carol even more accurate), sitting around a table, as the drama continues and often comes to a climax (this is the first scene with everyone in it). As I've said before, I'm kind of obsessed with watching people eat on stage, because it's so rare and really adds another layer of reality. The beauty of this show is that we know it's all made up and sometimes some outrageous things happen (before the show each improvisor is given a "secret" suggested by the audience), but somehow it all feels so real, so grounded, so relatable, so funny.

who wouldn't want to be part of this family?!
(photo courtesy of Family Dinner)

This year's show features a rotating cast of six out of a pool of ten of the funniest improv performers in town. As an example, this is the play I saw, although if you're lucky enough to have tickets to one of the last two shows your cast and characters will be completely different. The family centered around moms Deborah (Liz Council) and Mo (Jada Pulley) and their two adult daughters gathering at the family vacation home to celebrate the solstice, a nice touch since it was actually the solstice - a great way to spend the longest night of the year! Jada's secret was that they were obsessed with Hallmark movies, so Mo Mom planned out a Hallmark movie plot which involve setting up one (or both?) of their daughters, Raina from the big city (Kelsey Dilts McGregor) and Sam from a small town (Şeniz Yargici), with neighbor Carlo (Ross Flores), a childhood friend of both. This reveals a longtime rivalry between the siblings, despite the fact that they love each other very much. And this family isn't complete without eccentric Aunt Amy (Angelique Lisboa), who comes in with sage and dance rituals and comfort for everyone! 

I mean really, you can't script anything better than what these talented folks come up with on the spot, tossing out ideas, doubling down on themes, incorporating scandalous secrets (or not), building on relationships, really listening to each other and creating a family on stage. The funniest running gag of the night happened by accident. When Jada tripped going up on stage the first time, they turned it into a character trait of doing pratfalls, which turned into a family tradition, which turned into people just falling on the floor when things got to be too much. Which cracked me up every single time. That's what improv is all about. It's the live-est of live performances, you gotta just go with whatever happens and turn it into art!

If you haven't already, go buy your tickets now, and sell out the last two shows so hopefully they'll be back for an even longer run next year! And as Molly said, thanks to "the man upstairs" for making this happen, aka Caleb McEwan, Artistic Director of Brave New Workshop which is currently performing their beloved and hilarious holiday show Big Christmas Energy in the upstairs theater whilst Family Dinner is happening on the first floor of the Dudley Riggs Theatre. This historic comedy theater (with photos in the basement of famous vaudeville performers that graced the Hennepin Avenue stages in the last century) feels like a perfect fit for this show.

*Click here for reviews of all of the holiday shows I've seen this year.