Audience Member’s Life Makes Improbable Theater

First, a critic’s caveat: If you go to “Lifegame,” you won’t see what’s described in this review. That aside, what you will see, you’ll probably enjoy.

“Lifegame,” conceived by Keith Johnstone, is an ingenious twist on the improvisational theater “call out a subject” challenge. Here, an audience member, who has volunteered beforehand, is interviewed onstage, and events from his or her life are immediately depicted by the members of England’s Improbable Theatre troupe, utilizing music, all sorts of props and hand puppets. Might Johnstone have been inspired by a certain writer’s observation that “All the world’s a stage . . .”?

The resulting production naturally will vary with the subject and the events disclosed, but, given the abundant and eclectic talents of the cast, it should be entertaining. At the reviewed performance, the subject was Ellen Revelle, a San Diego philanthropist, La Jolla Playhouse board member and widow of UCSD icon Roger Revelle.

*

Her upper-80s age and civic standing made for some conservative and circumspect revelations, but the portrayed versions were often hilarious. And they maintained the tricky balance of physically and verbally inspiring raucous laughter without demeaning Revelle or members of her family (some of whom were in attendance).

Much depends on the ability of the interviewer to put the guest at ease and elicit fertile information, and Phelim McDermott handled both duties adeptly, even easing through an interruptive buzzing from some audience dolt’s personal phone.

Angela Clerkin had the precarious task of playing Revelle, and accomplished it nicely with gentle and lighthearted exaggeration. Likewise Stella Duffy and Niall Ashdown as Revelle’s parents, highlighted by Ashdown’s re-creation of Revelle’s recollection that her father fashioned doggerel during family drives.

The drive sequence provided another bright moment when Revelle dryly noted: “Lots of legroom in that car.” Instantly, the participants stood up and moved the sofa representing the rear seat forward.

Other members of the cast--Julian Crouch, Guy Dartnell, Lee Simpson and Toby Park--contributed in varying degrees, with Park as main musician on the piano. McDermott, Simpson and Crouch are credited with direction and design, which consists of seating areas on both sides of the stage book-ending the visible and hidden prop collection.

*

All subjects aren’t so in-house or exalted as Revelle. Early performances focused on an African American octogenarian who is a retired school principal, a Native American who lives on a reservation and raises horses, and a cancer survivor who teaches learning-disabled children.

That performance, of course, demonstrated the cast’s serious side.

The Playhouse is still lining up subjects for the final “Lifegame” performances. Volunteers are screened by a Playhouse panel, then introduced to the cast an hour before show time. According to a member of the panel, the sole criterion for selecting a guest is: “If you were sitting in a bar, would the person be interesting for two hours?”

Even if the person isn’t, the Improbable company will be.

*

* “Lifegame,” Mandell Weiss Forum, UCSD campus, San Diego. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends July 9. $19-$39. (858) 550-1010. Running time: 120 (or so) minutes.