Comedy review: In The Improv Centre's Betrayers, audience has fun separating the truthful from traitors
Spontaneous laughs meet heart-racing suspense in show that sends up TV phenomenon Traitors
Stephanie Webster in Betrayers. Photo by Chelsey Stuyt
The Improv Centre presents Betrayers on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm to November 2
THE IMPROV CENTRE KNOWS a thing or two about timing, which of course is essential when it comes to comedy. And now that we’re officially into fall, The Improv Centre is right on time with its latest show, Betrayers—and not just because it’s based on one of the year’s most memed TV shows.
Conceived by ensemble member Allen Morrison, Betrayers cleverly integrates theatre improv games into a murder-mystery-like experience, which is fitting with Halloween approaching. The show is an excellent vehicle for The Improv Centre’s hilarious and quick-witted ensemble to entertain, while also keeping audiences on edge until the final reveal.
Betrayers is inspired by the reality show The Traitors. Based on a Dutch program called De Verraders (which was itself based on the party game Mafia), The Traitors brings a group of contestants into a castle in the Scottish Highlands, where they compete in a series of challenges to win a large cash prize. The twist, however, is that among the group, which are known as the “faithfuls”, there’s also a handful of “traitors” whose purpose is to eliminate the faithfuls and steal the prize. The only way for the faithfuls to share the prize at the end is to eliminate the traitors. If any traitors make it into the final group, they steal all the money for themselves.
In Betrayers, we see members of the ensemble portray a group of charismatic and quirky contestants, and the action is set in a medieval castle nestled in Stanley Park. In classic improv style, audience members are asked to participate right from the start, as performers call out for spontaneous suggestions to flesh out their characters. As a result of one viewer’s suggestion on opening night, the character of chicken farmer Blaine Washington (Jacki Gunn) believed that chickens are a conspiracy theory and therefore aren’t real.
Joining Gunn’s character on the same evening (the cast and characters are switched out each performance) were smooth-talking politician Jeanette (Jalen Saip); property tycoon Karmal Lux (Della Haddock); wholesome dentist Ted (Will Vaughan); dedicated preschool teacher Deb (Mary Saunders); and cocky pop star Ricky Clicky (John Voth). Who was a “truthful” (this version’s “faithful”) and who was a “traitor”? The idea here is that through a series of challenges and question-and-answer sessions between the audience and cast, we get to learn more about the characters, which could help us decide. After all, in each elimination round, each performer gets to vote on who they want eliminated, and the audience collectively gets a vote as well.
In reality, the challenges serve more as fun entertainment than revealing clues about who the traitors are. But that’s completely fine because these challenges are expertly played out by the talented performers and are super audience-pleasing. In one challenge, Vaughan and Saip (also the troupe’s artistic director) played out a date where they ran into Vaughan’s ex-girlfriend, Haddock, in the ball pit of a McDonald’s (the location was an audience suggestion). The twist: whenever audience members shouted “Should’ve said”, an actor would have to change whatever intention they had just stated. In this situation, it led to Saip’s lactose-intolerant character reversing her decision to go to the bathroom after consuming cheese, to jumping into the pit to battle Haddock. Likewise, Vaughan’s initial plea for the women to stop bickering was reversed to him joining into the ball-throwing.
In another challenge, Morrison asked an audience member what their occupation and a major challenge at their workplace is. When the viewer responded with “content strategist” and “bad web semantics”, Morrison instructed Gunn, Voth, and Saunders to play out a scene in—yes—a content-strategy office, where they had to deal with bad web semantics. If you’re having a hard time wrapping your head around that jargon, imagine what a tall order it was for the performers to spontaneously make it work—which they did brilliantly!
The mini prizes that Morrison announced for each challenge were not only hilarious but also unquestionably alluring. For example, one of these “prizes” was the password to your ex’s Netflix account so that you could use it for free and mess with their algorithm. An even better one was a two-bedroom apartment in Mount Pleasant for $1,200 a month (immediately prompting an envious audience reaction).
All of this is played out on Frank Paige’s rustic-themed set, which exudes cheekiness, including a moose head mounted on the wall. Sound designer Brendan Kelly also adds to the onstage humour, inserting on-the-spot sound effects throughout to complement the action. And lighting designer Neil Battle expertly dims the lights at the most opportune moments during skits for maximum comedic timing.
The effective incorporation of audience interaction during the show really makes you feel part of the action—which in turns cranks up the heart-racing suspense during the elimination rounds. Betrayers is a ton of fun, and because of the mystery that underlies the action, it feels like you’re watching a complete show, rather than a series of theatre improv games. Add to that the polished comedic talents of The Improv Centre’s ensemble, and the result here is—truthfully—a unique and entertaining experience. 
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