Day one of the InterACTion symposium brought comedy to the Lafayette Performing Arts Center as HCC students showcased their skill for Family Funnies, a 90-minute mix of improv and entertainment.

The performance fused the concept of family with audience-suggested themes and locations in conjunction with predetermined situations. One such situation found two friends detailing a funeral gone wrong which involved a family member dressed down in clown attire making passes at attendees. Two performers narrated the events in a conversation while two additional performers acted the scene out behind them to much audience laughter.

“Sometimes it’s good to laugh about our family situations and relationships.” Said Professor of Theater Arts, Geoffrey Sheehan. “It’s always okay to find light and humor in your life.”

Sheehan, who is facilitating the four-day InterACTion event, let his class of 13 perform typically far-fetched scenarios with the lens of different family dynamics at play.  Performers found themselves eulogizing a dead relative in sing-song gibberish, to acting out a father-daughter conversation about cookies with the pretense that each response must start with a set letter of the alphabet.

“I don’t want to just talk about the concept of family.” Sheehan said. “I want everyone who attends to interact in an all-new way.”

For the complete InterACTion schedule go to http://news.housatonic.edu/student-news/item/323-interaction-a-multi-day-multi-activity-cross-curricular-symposium