THANKSGIVING UNSCRIPTED: Improvised Dinner Party Gone Wrong is Coming to Synergy Theater

Synergy Theater, the folks who brought you Spontaneous Hitchcock! and Improvised Dungeons and Dragons!, will return to the Lesher Center for the Arts, with the world debut of their improvised farce, Thanksgiving Unscripted: An Improvised Dinner Party Gone Wrong! This completely improvised two-act comedy proves the old adage that anything that can go wrong at a holiday gathering, definitely will - especially if it's really, really funny! It plays Thursday, November 6 through Sunday, November 16, 2025, at 8:15 pm, Thursdays - Saturdays, and 3:15 pm on Sundays.

"It's Thanksgiving Day, circa 1993, and the whole gang is coming over to celebrate," explains Valerie Regalia, the show's creator and director. "Now, it's all completely made up on the spot but just like any good farce, everything goes wrong - accidents, misunderstandings, mistaken identities. Plus, it has all the broad humor you expect from a farce; stock characters, pratfalls, ridiculous disguises that are, of course, shocking effective, outrageous lies and coverups, and then, when the situation is as dire as possible, it somehow all works out with a happy ending."

"A good farce is fueled by desperation," says Synergy Theater's Artistic Director Kenn Adams. "So, in rehearsals, we practice improvising characters who are desperately in need of something like finding a private moment to confess their love or hiding their little pet dog that they weren't supposed to bring. And then, of course, the other characters find ways of making life hard for them like constantly interrupting the private moment or being terribly allergic to the dog and sneezing violently whenever its near."

"The people in a farce are incredibly gullible," says company member Arastoo Darakhshan. "People tell the most ridiculous lies, and everyone believes them. Or they put on a different hat and glasses and nobody recognizes them. It's fun playing characters that are so easily fooled."

"In the end, though, it's all about finding connection." explains veteran company member Lynn Shiels, "That's what we learn from a farce, I think. No matter how crazy and chaotic the world can get, if we all find a way to come together, we can figure out how to get by."

San Francisco / Bay Area Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. URINETOWN (Ghostlight Theatre Ensemble)

17% of votes

2. THE DAY THE SKY TURNED ORANGE (San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company / Z Space)

9.1% of votes

3. SWEENEY TODD (Cabrillo Stage)

8.6% of votes

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