Campus groups share stage

When the sun goes down, improv and slam poetry will come out for a night of laughs and drama.

The Chapel Hill Players, CHiPs, and Ebony Readers/Onyx Theatre, EROT, will unite to perform “Expressions After Dark.”

The annual event, part of UNC’s Race Relations Week, pairs the two popular groups and draws fans from across campus.

Instead of alternating their performances as they have in the past, the two groups will perform the entire act together as a fluid unit.

This means that CHiPs will find themselves in the unfamiliar territory of slam poetry.

“Certainly for me I’m not very adept at anything like that,” said senior Alex Whittington, co-artistic director of CHiPs.

While EROT members may be less familiar with comedy, they are no strangers to improvisation.

“The transition was pretty easy,” said senior Tre Flintroy, co-vice president of EROT.

“We also do theater and we do our own sketches, so everyone has experience.”

The two groups work with contrasting performance material. CHiPs deals with lighthearted affairs while EROT’s work tends toward more complicated, dramatic issues.

Whittington said that EROT’s set of talents makes their transition easier.

“EROT have such a mastery of their art,” he said. “But the groups are aligned through our experience with performance.”

This alignment is expected to attract a large audience and create a dynamic show.

“We don’t plug the show very hard, but it’s the biggest crowd we’ll draw all year,” Flintroy said.

“Everyone is down to earth but crazy; we have a really good time.”

Neither of the groups would disclose the night’s overall theme, but they worked together to brainstorm outlines for sketches and games.

Whittington said there is some direction, even with improv.

“Everyone gets together just to see what the other group’s mission statement is and plan what games we’ll do,” Whittington said.

One of the trickier parts was incorporating slam poetry into the sketch formula.

“Most of the games are improv ones, but we’ve also got slam poetry ones,” said senior Robert Stephens, director of CHiPs.

“We chose the ones that work well with a large group of people.”

Both groups said they enjoyed getting the chance to work with each other.

“We have a really good thing going this year,” Flintroy said.

ATTEND THE PERFORMANCE
Time: 7:45 p.m. today
Location: Hanes Art Center
Info: chipsimprov.blogspot.com

Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.