"Skin/Deep – a reality show"

NorthWest goga Theatre's second show was developed by the troupe. "Skin/Deep – a reality show," was a free-flowing long-form improv show that examined the successes and excesses of the plastic surgery and beauty industry.

Getting a name and a body part from the audience, the troupe created a show about that person's life and their struggle to deal with their dissatisfactions about that body part. The stories ranged from the lighthearted story of a woman with a pierced toe (!) that got infected, to the hilarious and irreverent Jesus with male-pattern baldness, to the touching Priscilla contemplating needed breast-reduction surgery.

"La Ronde"

NWgT's first show was "La Ronde," a form developed in Chicago by Michael Gellman of Second City, taught to the troupe's director by Anne Libera. Based on a 1950 movie of the same name, the show has a circular structure, like this:

If there were four people, A, B, C, and D, then there would be four scenes, the first with characters A and B, the second with B and C, then C and D, and finally D and A. The first round of scenes would be short silent scenes, the second round slightly longer scenes with a little talking, and the third and final round scenes would play out as long as they needed to. The audience provided the location for each of the scenes.

As NWgT did "La Ronde," it was a tour de force romp through the funny, sad, and bizarre lives of people in a small town.