So following Minimum I made it to Tarragon Theatre with about two minutes to spare to see You Choose; an improvised murder mystery from the Howland Company. The show is created by Ruth Goodwin and Liz Johnston. M. Thibidault, owner of a country hotel, has invited some friends for dinner but shortly before the meal commences he is found murdered. It must be one of the guests or a member of the hotel staff. So far, so Christie but here’s the schtick. The cast draw lots to determine what character they will play and we, the audience, choose the murderer. The only members of the cast who know the murderer’s identity are the killer and the concierge/facilitator who moves the action forward with a series of prompts.

It’s very silly and very fun. The cast is made up of people predominantly with Second City and voice acting backgrounds and there are some outrageous accents. They create relationships; mostly pretty far fetched, between the characters. There are further murders. There are lots of clichés; the Internet influencer with no wifi, the illegitimate daughter with daddy issues, the florist with no flowers. But, of course, that was just last night. each performance will feature different characters creating newly absurd situations.

The cast; Conor Bradbury, Ruth Goodwin, Brandon Hackett, Liz Johnston, Paloma Nuñez, Sharjil Rasool and Christian Smith really throw themselves into it and are making fun of each other and their characters as much as anything. The packed house laughed like crazy and I can see why. It’s a really good example of the madcap end of Fringe comedyand I can seeing itreally appealing to mpeople who are into improv.

Photo: David Leyes