Tag Archives: nzif

A row of improv characters in front of a curtain, including a cow and some tentacles

Five Hundred Shows Later – NZIF 2023


A community full of classic improv characters come together for an epic celebration show. What could possibly go wrong?

This show happened in the past! There were a lot of doorknobs (“Every conceivable, inconceivable and improbable connotation of doorknobs entertainingly explored“), and it was a delight to be part of the 2023 NZ Improv Festival in Wellington. Maybe we’ll bring it back one day.

Five Hundred Shows explores what happens when a small town of enthusiastic amateur dramatists build the most epic show that was ever built.

Where: The Stage, BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Terrace Wellington
When: Friday October 6th, 8pm
Tickets: BATS Website or ticket office

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a papier mache cow

Christmas 2020 – A Very Witty Panto

THIS SHOW HAS HAPPENED ALREADY!

For 2020 WITs celebrates the season Most Festive with an improvised twist on the traditional Xmas pantomime and will create a unique story each night inspired by suggestions from the audience.

Expect the unexpected, and also probably some cosmetically-challenged Sisters, papier-mache farm animals, a fresh-faced hero or heroine in tights, a Fairy Godparent, Villains and Sidekicks, a Dame or a Dude with a really big moustache. And Christmas treats!

Note that The Fringe Bar is a licensed venue, with a vast range of delicious alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages available. So, if you’re youthfully fresh-faced bring your id, and if you’re under 18 bring your parent or guardian.

Tickets are available online and as door sales on the night, BUT if we are at Level 2 the venue capacity is limited to 25 and there will not be door sales.

What: A Very Witty Panto
Who: The Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT)
When: Tuesday 22nd, Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th December, at 7pm
Where: The Fringe Bar, Allen St

“As a troupe, they boast an effective and playful onstage chemistry” ~ Theatreview

“This group’s bounding energy overtook the stage” ~ Nelson Mail

 

improvisors training in front of a window

 

Drawing of a crow holding Poe's head

Poe’d – NZIF 2020 Edition

Theatreview decided Poe’d was “MACABRE MADE MISCHIEVOUS”  
While the Artmurmurs’ reviewer said “I had a lovely time“

A Darkly Gothic Romp

Everyone knows Edgar Allen Poe died mysteriously in Baltimore in 1849. But recently a trunk of mysterious papers was discovered by the same researchers who previously discovered the Lovecrafted archive (revealed during the 2019 Fringe). Did the forty year old Poe fake his death, flee to a remote island nation and live out the rest of a long life writing epically gothically tragically romantic stories shaped by the myths and realities of life among the phlegmatic people of the farthest flung corner of the British Empire??

Find out as each night a different narrator channels the tortured author to bring original improvised tales to Te Auaha’s Tapere Iti stage.

“The show will be a romp through a gothic past” says Ali Little, the show’s creative director. She claims the tortured author, a man who spawned so many many tortured imitators, has communicated to her through ethereal means.  And he is “delighted, just delighted” that these tales which should have been part of his oeuvre, now will be.

What: Poe’d
Who: The Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT) and Invited Guests
When: Friday October 9th, 9pm
Where: BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Terrace, Wellington

Visit BATS for tickets and a bunch (a slew, a cascade a cornucopia) of other great NZ Improv Festival shows,  WIT’s Facebook for the latest details, team photos and gossip about this show.

“As a troupe, they boast an effective and playful onstage chemistry” ~ Theatreview

“This group’s bounding energy overtook the stage” ~ Nelson Mail

 

 

 

Panto! at NZIF 2014

WIT had fun during the NZ Improv Festival in Wellington from 28 October – 1 November, a whole glorious week of shows and workshops. For example reviewers enjoyed a classic pantomime experience with dames, damsels and a song or two in a special edition of WIT’s Panto!

WIT people joined in with improvisors from all over New Zealand and Australia and beyond in ensemble shows, had a lot of fun in workshops and the wild whirl of social events. It was a great week, and so wonderful to experience the many different strands of improv. A huge huge thank you to the wonderful Jennifer O’Sullivan and her team of amazing helpers who made it happen

cracker121215568

 

1 night only Wednesday 29th October 8pm

Part of the New Zealand Improv Festival 28 October – 1 November at BATS (Out of Site)

NZ Improv Festival

NZ Improv Festival, 2013

September 17-21 2013 at Bats Theatre. WIT had a fine fine time playing with all our improv friends at the 2013 New Zealand Improv Festival. The #Divas were wonderful, and the special festival penultimate episode of Young and the Witless saw characters’ lives reshaped in some surprising ways. We had fun on stage and off; including mixing it up with other players in the ensemble shows and taking workshops with amazing visiting teachers. The comment from one reviewer, that “being in a theatre full of improvisers high on five days of fun can make one think that anything is possible” is about right. Thanks and cheers to all the people who made it happen … the producer, the musicians, the lighting guy, the players,  the setters-up-of-things, the leaflet hander-outerers, the lovely reviewers, the lovely sponsors, the lovely audiences. And super dooper especially to Festival Producer Jennifer O’Sullivan and Artistic Director Christine Brooks! Much much more at The New Zealand Improv Festival website.

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Improv Divas hashtag

# Divas

For one night only, on the opening night of the 2013 New Zealand Improv Festival, WIT’s Improv Divas present . . . Hashtag Divas.   

What’s really going on behind those cheery smugdates we all see on our Facebook timelines? In scenes inspired by real-life Facebook updates, the Divas explore this pervasive social medium where everyone’s lives are on display – but the truth is a lot harder to pin down.

The Improv Divas, New Zealand’s only all-female all-improvised comedy act, in an entertaining evening of on-the-spot storytelling.

Nicola Pauling
Kate Wilson
Mary Little

Date/Time

Date(s) – 17/09/2013
9:30 pm – 10:30 pm
BATS Theatre

show photographs: A Little Art

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Young and the Witless 7, 2013

littlesupriseWellington’s Riskiest Show Gets Rural

Opening night photos

Wednesdays in August/September  at The Fringe in Allen St, except for a special performance at BATS on September 18th.

In its tenth year of bringing spontaneous theatre to Wellington’s stages, WIT is ecstatic to present the seventh annual season of the capital’s longest running improvised theatre experience – The Young and the WITless 7. Featuring eight weeks of improvised theatre with no scripts, no limits, and no holds barred, The Young and the WITless 7 returns to the stage at the Fringe in its new home on Allen St, bringing to life the sagas and stories of the people of fictional Te Awaiti.

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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

New Zealand Improv Festival, 2008

flyer_2008improvfestivalThe first New Zealand Improv Festival 2008 ran 27-29 November at BATS Theatre, and featured performances from Wellington, Auckland, and Christchurch troupes.

Producer: Merrilee McCoy
Artistic Director: Derek Flores

PRESS RELEASE 19 November 2008

New Zealand’s most playful minds spring forth from Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland – together at last to present an action packed, hilarious symphony of improvised theatre – for three nights only!

For the first time the country’s top improvisation companies come together to expose Wellington to a plethora of improvised comedy at its funniest and most daring.Each night two different companies take to the stage to entertain. In the grand finale on Saturday – the teams join forces, mix and fight it out in a ‘Festival All-Stars’ extravaganza – showcasing the best players from around the country.

JESTERS: “Terrific… One of the BEST troupes I’ve come across”
– Nancy Cartwright (voice of Bart Simpson)

IMPROVISORS: “This team is nothing short of phenomenal….” – Theatreview

WIT: “…formidable and funny” – Theatreview

Join us at BATS Theatre for a blooming great festival of moment-to-moment hilarity, a festival of spontaneous thought, high wire danger – The New Zealand Improv Festival!

Schedule:
27 Nov: WIT (Wgtn) perform LOVE POSSIBLY and The Improvisors (Wgtn) perform IMPROV THE SECONDARY SCHOOL MUSICAL
28 Nov: Court Jesters (Chch) perform ONCE (AND ONLY) UPON A TIME and The ConArtists (Akld) perform AUSTIN FOUND
29 Nov: All Stars Improv Spectacular!

What is Improvisation? Improv brings ordinary people into the theatre to enjoy stories spontaneously created from audience suggestions. For the players, improvisation provides a platform to explore performance and the narrative form. Most of all, it’s fun for everyone involved. Popularised by television shows like ‘Who’s Line Is It Anyway?’, improvisational theatre continues to evolve and entertain.

The New Zealand Improv Festival now has its very own website