'Paint Show' Delivers Sloppy Fun

For those wishing to combine the cramped sweatiness of the Harvard party scene with the goofiness of Harvard improv last weekend, Andrew D. Boch ’03 had an answer.

The director of last year’s Stephen, Scott’s Son took a squad of comics including IGP and Hasty Pudding cast members, added some techno and washable paint and squeezed them into the smallest theater I know of on campus, Adams Kronauer Space.

Modestly advertised, The Paint Show catered to a small audience of receptive undergrads eager to pay their dollars and sign a waiver acknowledging that they would soon be covered in goop.

The concept of the show may not seem initially appealing (think Blue Man Group, except the audience walks out blue and sloppy), but like any social event—and it was a social event, with a good 40 minutes of the show consisting of the audience chatting on the padded floor—The Paint Show depended as much on its guests as on its hosts.

Happily, the audience was quite willing to partake in the outrageous action, doing an impromptu conga and even fencing with foam noodles.

Between attempts at a plot, The Paint Show made for an excellent pre-party event featuring a dance party of wordless techno music and audience members in white coveralls dancing with characters out of a Children’s Television Workshop special.

As the evening progressed, the cast went from merely wiping paint on dancers, to squirting them with the stuff, to instigating fights with foam noodles. And while some may prefer more recognizable tunes (á là the Leverett 80s dance), Boch has done Harvard a service by showcasing alternative theater uses for the dramatic community and simultaneously welcoming the Class of ’05 with an example of the kind of fun creative people can have before they are 21.

THE PAINT SHOW

conceived and directed

by Andrew Boch ’03

Adams Kronauer Space