What is Improvisation?

Improvisational theatre brings ordinary people into the theatre to enjoy stories about themselves. For the players, improvisation provides a platform to explore performance and the narrative form and to develop important life skills (creativity, spontaneity, teamwork, listening, perception, trust, generosity and openness). Most of all, it’s fun for everyone involved. Popularised by Nobel Prize Winner Dario Fo, Keith Johnstone’s TheatreSports and television shows like ‘Who’s Line Is It Anyway?’, improvisational theatre continues to evolve with many different streams and philosophies.

A Little NZ History

Improv in New Zealand theatre became popularised in the early nineties as part of the global phenomenon of Keith Johnstone's Theatresports. Theatresports techniques liberated many traditional theatre practitioners, and Theatresports itself was performed on a regular basis at most of the country's major centres and taught at the country's schools. Auckland Theatresports, Christchurch's Court Jesters, Wellington's The Improvisers and the Dunedin Improv Company were all formed in this first wave of enthusiasm for improv theatre in New Zealand. Over the nineties, improv theatre became a victim of its own success. The audiences left the theatre and many of New Zealand's major improvisers left the tradition. Performance improv became competitive and stagnated, and lost credibility within the theatre community. Many troupes folded. In 1997, Auckland's Improv Bandits sought to reinvent local improv, pitching themselves as a subversive new force performing improv 'without safety nets'. Clawing back audience, Improv Bandit Wade Jackson then opened New Zealand's only dedicated improv theatre - The Covert Theatre in Auckland.

Improv Groups in NZ

While improv has diversified and grown overseas, there are now only five established improv troupes in New Zealand: WIT and The Improvisers in Wellington; Auckland Theatresports and the Covert Theatre (home of The Improv Bandits) in Auckland; and the country's longest running troupe - The Court Jesters - in Christchurch. WIT is the largest troupe in the country. It is the only troupe that does not operate for profit, reflective of the group's generous creative philosophy. WIT is committed to working alongside the professional companies towards reinvigorating improv in New Zealand. At the same time, WIT is struggling to keep pace with the high demand for good improv theatre. WIT shows are among the most popular theatre in Wellington, with houses reaching over an average 80% of house and an audience of 3,000 per year. This reflects the enduring popularity and timelessness of improv theatre and the city's rapidly increasing urban population. It also reflects the global trend away from mass entertainment to local improv.