Tag Archives: improv

WIT show posters

NZ Improv Festival, 2011

logo_NZIFposterOctober 11-15 2011 at Bats Theatre.

Familiar faces included The Court Jesters, The Improvisors and WIT, as well as new groups Up Against Improv, Chicken Legs Theatre, and representatives from Brisbane, Dunedin and Canberra. As well, two of Australia’s best improvisers Rebecca De Unamuno and Jason Geary visited with new and unique shows.

Thanks and cheers to all the people who made it happen … the producer, the musicians, the lighting guy, the players, the ticket takers, the setters-up-of-things, the leaflet hander-outerers, the lovely reviewers, the lovely sponsors, the lovely audiences. And Producer/Artistic director Merrilee!

The New Zealand Improv Festival now has its very own website

WIT show posters

The Young and the Witless V, 2011

Young and the Witless iconThere is an episode by episode summary on the show’s Facebook page.   Back for its fifth season in June and July 2011 Wellington’s best, and only, improvised soap opera turned its overly melodramatic eye to the highly competitive and scandalous world of indoor social netball. Team mates and lovers, friends and coaches, nemesis and referees – all ripe for soft lens over-acting and long dramatic pauses with a swelling musical score.

WIT show posters

WIT Dreamz, 2011

logo Dreams showHop into bed with us!

It’s time to delve beneath the duvet into the subconscious mind of dreams and nightmares.  In WIT Dreamz, Wellington’s finest improvisers will weave the audience’s night-time visions into a web of surreal, hilarious and occasionally spooky stories. Continue reading →

WIT show posters

Wednesdays with WIT, 2008 – 2011

default_clip_image002Between festivals and seasons of shows such as The Young and the Witless WIT began to regularly organise more informal nights at the Blue Note Bar (now the Fringe Bar).  These were collectively promoted under the umbrella of Wednesdays with WIT, with the name shifting to The Improv Lounge in 2012.

Shows in Wednesdays with WIT included many Micetros, Gorillas, House Team shows, The Improv Lab (itself an umbrella for a variety of shows) and more.  Many shows such as The Last Saloon and  Divas and the Beast had their first public outing at a WwW evening before going on to a Fringe or Comedy Festival season.

WwW November 2011
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WIT show posters

Young and the Witless 4, June – August 2010

flyer_mini_yawiv

Lust . . . Betrayal . . . Family
Wellington’s only improvised soap opera returns!

At the Fringe Bar
Wednesdays 2 Jun 2010 to 25 Aug 2010 

Cast included:
Geoff Simmons, Christine Brooks, Simon Smith, Karen Anslow, Jennifer O’Sullivan, Paul Sullivan, Wiremu Tuhiwai

Fresh from knock out seasons of Micetro, Improv Divas, and Gods & Heroes, the Wellington Improv Troupe is back with another titillating season of intrigue, secrets and unrequited lust!

Join the Wakefields, NZ’s #2 retail family as they battle tough economic times, off shore manufacturing, and each other for control of the legacy of great granddad Wakefield.
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Theatreview.org commented that the show attracted “large and exuberant houses who are not disappointed as the improvisers deliver a compelling combination of narrative twists, character based gags and sardonic breakings of the fourth wall”

WIT show posters

The Improv Divas 2010

Improv DivasWellington welcomes back The Improv Divas

The Improv Divas are back! NZ’s leading ladies of improv are ready to rock the capital with an all new, all improvised show in 2010’s International Comedy Festival.
Produced and performed by an all-female ensemble cast from Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT), The Improv Divas will lead you through an hour of humour, honesty and hilarity, telling stories made up on the spot based on audience suggestion and whatever the ever-present wind blows in. Continue reading →

Keith Johnstone

Keith Johnstone an internationally recognised authority in the field of improvisation, great chunks of which he created, including improvisation forms Theatresports, Maestro Impro (played in NZ as Micetro), Gorilla Theatre, and The Life Game. His books Impro, and Impro For Storytellers, have been translated into many languages.

Keith worked at London’s Royal Court Theatre for its ten most revolutionary years (1956 to 1966), and has taught at many European Theatre Schools, including six years at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and each spring for fifteen years at the Stattensteatre Skole in Copenhagen. Places where he has taught since include San Francisco, Brisbane, Sydney, Seattle,Vienna, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, London, Hong Kong, Austin (Texas), and Tokyo. He has lectured at the Deuches Institute for Provocative Therapy, and from teaching ‘clinic clowns’ in the Bavarian Alps. He founded the Theatre Machine improvisation group, the International Theatresports Institute, and was the Co-founder of Calgary’s Loose Moose Theatre. He is a Professor Emeritus at Calgary University.

More on his own site

Over the years several WIT members have made the pilgrimage to The Loose Moose Theatre in Calgary to attend the Summer School. Although the theatre is no longer lead by him, it is still infused with his philosophy and playful generous approach to improv.

WIT show posters

The Young and the WITless – Improvathon 2010 edition

fbP1000440 An entire season of The Young and the WITless, set in a day spa, was created as part of the 30 hours non-stop improvisation that happened on the 12th and 13th of February, at the Wellington Performing Arts Centre, 36 Vivian Street.

 

The Improvathon – 2010 Fringe Festival

improvathonIt was the greatest challenge of creative and comedy endurance. An improv marathon – filled with all the thrills and spills that you have come to expect from Wellington’s finest improvisers. This improv extravaganza ran for 30 hours non-stop on the 12th and 13th of February, at the Wellington Performing Arts Centre, 36 Vivian Street.

Two brave audience and seven brave performers held out for the full thirty hours. We salute those heroes . . .and everyone else who took part and helped make it all happen.

The Wishing Tree, 2009

flyer_wishingtree_miniIMPROV TO REMEMBER IN THE MORNING

An enchanting new improv show, The Wishing Tree, comes to BATS Theatre from 8 – 12 December, presented by the Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT). Based on a Japanese myth of love, luck and fate, a tree blossoms with genuine wishes as anonymously supplied by the audience. These true desires become the inspiration for scenes that will transport audiences to a world where their own wishes are brought to life before their eyes. Sometimes for good, other times for ill, and sometimes just for a laugh.

The Wishing Tree premiered during the 2009 New Zealand Improv Festival with a one-off show comprising performers from troupes across New Zealand and Australia. Described as “elegant and touching” (Salient Magazine), by popular demand WIT is bringing this show back to Wellington audiences who missed out on the sold-out show during the Festival.

WIT Co-Creative Director, Christine Brooks, describes the concept as “a different kind of improv. A lot of improv shows are a bit of fun, but can end up being pretty disposable, like a comedy version of a one night stand. The Wishing Tree creates improvised theatre that I want to remember in the morning.”

Based on a format created by Rama Nicholas of Impro Melbourne, The Wishing Tree has been performed around the world, from Belgium to Seattle, inspiring performers and audience alike.

“We all have dreams, goals and desires,” says Brooks, “but how much do we think about them? Sometimes you get what you think you’ve always wanted and it’s kind of disappointing or you get something unexpected and it’s great! The Wishing Tree allows people to reflect on their desires and wishes in a fun, open way. It’s thrilling to be able to entertain people and make them think at the same time.”

Starring WIT regulars from improvised soap The Young and the Witless, Derek Flores, Simon Smith, Anton van Helden, Paul Sullivan, Christine Brooks and others, The Wishing Tree will bring your true desires to life in a unique theatre experience this December.