FARMINGTON — Farmington will celebrate Valentine’s Day with candlelight dinners, chocolate hearts, improv comedy and brutal competition starting at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at Mt. Blue High School.

Three western Maine improv groups take to the stage to square off against one another and Rhode Island’s Laughletics in a four-way “Lovers’ Quarrel” in which only the funniest will survive. The “Lovers’ Quarrel” casts friend against friend, teacher against student, comic versus comic.

Hosted and refereed by Laughletic’s Jimmy Sorrel, the festivities involve teams challenging one another to the sorts of improv games seen on television’s “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” The audience provides suggestions for the actors and the final verdict. Who wins and loses depends upon the crowd’s applause.

Facing off will be Mt. Blue High School’s Curtain Raisers, the University of Maine at Farmington’s Lawn Chair Pirates, and western Maine’s Teachers Lounge Mafia.

While the groups have shared the stage before, it was always in the spirit of camaraderie, not in a battle for comedic supremacy. They are up against the Rhode Islanders of Laughletics, seasoned improv veterans who have performed at improv festivals across New England.

The event is a major fundraiser for the Mt. Blue Curtain Raisers as they plan their annual sojourn to Boston.

Each spring for the past seven years, the group has attended workshops and performed at Cambridge’s ImprovBoston. They hope to continue that tradition with help from the audience and comedians.

Tickets, available at the door, cost $10 for adults, $5 for students. For information, call 778-3561 or email dryder@mtbluersd.org.


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