Past Productions
The Saboteur: An Interactive Game of Trust
Wednesday 19 - Saturday 22 May
10pm at BATS Theatre (Random Stage)1 Kent Terrace
Tix $20-40 from www.bats.co.nzFive performers are all working hard to put on a good improv show. Well, almost all of them. One of them is trying to sabotage the show without getting caught. Will The Saboteur be unmasked before the evening is ruined? This award-winning show sold out in Wellington (2019) and Melbourne (2020) - join us for a thrilling, high-stakes evening of subterfuge, treachery, backstabbing, and laughs!
"Ingeniously destructive" – Theatreview
Winner – Outstanding Show 2019, New Zealand Improv FestivalCreated and directed by Jim Fishwick
Performed by Christine Brooks, Clare Kerrison, Jennifer O'Sullivan, Jim Fishwick, Lyndon Hood, Malcolm Morrison, Matt Powell, Stevie Hancox-Monk, and Wiremu Tuhiwai
"From mimed moments about soup, performing scenes in only a specific number of words, dramatic retellings of their first kisses, and much more – these performers are incredible at what they do and leave the audience in hysterics...
"The Saboteur is the fabulous cherry on the top of a stacked Comedy Fest programme."
The History Boy
Tuesday 16 - Saturday 20 March
7:30pm at Te Auaha
65 Dixon St, Te Aro
Tix $14-20 from www.fringe.co.nzAll of history is just stories we tell each other to understand the world, and every story is at least in part about the person doing the telling. Performed by the award-winning Matt Powell (Awkward Threesome, Soap Factory) and inspired by the imperfect recollections of performer and audience alike.
Matt Powell is an improvisor, director, and writer with over 20 years’ experience creating and performing shows. He has been part of The Court Jesters Christchurch), PlayShop, WIT, and Soap Factory. He has been performing in the New Zealand Fringe Festival since 2014. The History Boy is his first full-length solo show, born from a development at Late Night Knife Fight (winner: September 2019).
The History Boy returns after five (5) cancelled seasons in 2020. Hopefully this time, history won't get in the way.
"A timely reminder that, just like traffic, [history] isn’t around us – it is us."
— Theatreview, March 2020"Powell brings forth intricate details and quick-witted responses that reward an intelligent audience’s attention."
— The Plus Ones, April 2018
"Powell really gets to show off his cultivated wit and ability to think on his feet in this format, developed from decades of performing. A good rule of thumb is that if you’re having a good time and the performer makes it all look easy, then they are actually doing a really difficult thing extremely well. Powell personifies this tonight.
... Powell is a household name in the Wellington improv scene and there is a good reason for it!"
Hataitai Times: An Improvised Soapathon
Sunday 14 March
Episodes every hour 12pm - 10pm
Fringe at the Gryphon
22 Ghuznee St, Te Aro
Tix: $12 GA / $10 Concession / $8 Fringe Addict
Come for three episodes and the rest are on us!The roar of the presses! The clatter of typewriters! The promising whiff of a hot scoop!
Soap Factory takes you back to the golden age of print media, where feelings fight for column inches and local stories have global consequences. Join us in the offices of The Hataitai Times, a small suburban newspaper with big dreams and even bigger personalities, for a 10-hour improvised soap opera marathon that unfolds over a single day.
Each hour between noon and 10pm brings another exciting episode in the lives of our local media heroes, from the people who brought you Bay's Anatomy: Animal Hospital, So You Think You Khandallah?, and Deep Space Naenae. Every line, plot twist, and meaningful glance is made up on the spot. Come for a single episode or stay for the whole day: once you watch three episodes, the rest are on us!
It's high time for high times at The Hataitai Times.
“plenty of soap bubbles foaming in this steaming creative cauldron” — Theatreview
“By the cliffhanger ending of episode two, I’m hooked... the 4 episodes I see each increase in depth and tension, and having to go to the foyer in between episodes feels like the buffering symbol on a Breaking Bad binge.” — Theatreview
"So why have I written 1,500+ words about a long form episodic improv show that was here the other day then instantly vanished, never to surface again? Because – even though my account only skims the surface of the complex characters, plot-lines and relationships that evolve, aligned to miraculously meaningful themes – I want to give you, dear reader, a tantalising whiff of why such ingeniously created shows are astonishing to behold and well worth your taking the time to witness, next time Soap Factory brings one to a stage near you. "
Bay's Anatomy
Saturday 14 March
Episodes every hour 1pm - 11pm
Fringe at the Gryphon
22 Ghuznee St, Te Aro
Tix: $10 GA / $7 Fringe Addict
Come for three episodes and the rest are on us!There's a lot on the line when every patient's the goodest girl, boy, or lizard. Enter NZ's leading animal hospital (owned and operated by Drs. Evans and Shelly Bay) for an all-day residency of the heart, where medical professionals save lives every hour... but can they save their own?
A new improvised soap opera from the creators of Deep Space Naenae, Lyall Baywatch, and Mirror Miramar. Come for one episode, stay all of them, or dip in and out - see three episodes and the rest are on us!
“Countless moments of improvisational gold” - Theatreview
“Impressively epic improv” - Theatreview
Nominated: Outstanding Ensemble, Best Improv Fringe 2015
The History Boy
Tuesday 17 - Saturday 21 March
6:30pm at Te Auaha
65 Dixon St, Te Aro
Tix $14-20 from www.fringe.co.nzAll of history is just stories we tell each other to understand the world, and every story is at least in part about the person doing the telling.
THE HISTORY BOY is a new improvised work, performed by the award-winning Matt Powell (Awkward Threesome, Soap Factory) and inspired by the imperfect recollections of performer and audience alike.
Matt Powell is an improvisor, director, and writer with over 20 years’ experience creating and performing shows. He has been part of The Court Jesters Christchurch), PlayShop, WIT, and Soap Factory. He has been performing in the New Zealand Fringe Festival since 2014. THE HISTORY BOY is his first full-length solo show.
Directed by Jennifer O'Sullivan, and developed at Late Night Knife Fight (winner: September 2019). Part of NZ Fringe Festival 2020.
"Powell brings forth intricate details and quick-witted responses that reward an intelligent audience’s attention."
— The Plus Ones, April 2018
Happy-Go-Wrong
12-14 March
8:00pm at Te Auaha
65 Dixon St, Te Aro
Tix $13-20 from fringe.co.nzAward-winning performer Andi Snelling is in the fight of her life.
Little does she know, she is about to be rescued in the most profound way...
Happy-Go-Wrong is an award-winning solo odyssey about fate, mortality and resilience, created and performed by Melbourne-based physical powerhouse Andi Snelling. Blending clowning, storytelling and physical theatre with a twist, Happy-Go-Wrong celebrates our extraordinary capacity to survive, and even thrive, in the face of major adversity.
Based on Snelling’s own real-life ‘wrong turn’ after a fateful tick bite on a New Zealand holiday changed her life forever, this rollercoaster show aligns the personal with the universal and makes visible the invisible, with unflinching honesty, life-saving comedy and roller skates.
Following sold-out premiere and encore seasons at Melbourne Fringe 2019 (where it won the SA Tour Ready Award), this marks a poignant New Zealand debut for Snelling, the country where her sickness saga began.
~~~
Praise for Happy-Go-Wrong:
“Captivating, provocative, heart-wrenching” ★★★★★ – Theatrepeople
“The audience is putty in her hands” ★★★★ – Beat
“A sublimely talented performer dealt a serious blow by fate. If it doesn't take a larger stage at some point it's our lack of support for the arts that's sick” – The Age
“A love of life might not have been better depicted on stage. [It] deserves to be seen by a wider audience and on the main stages” – Witness Performance
“A powerfully personal story. Snelling was born to be on the stage” – My Melbourne Arts
“Astounding... It almost feels like it shouldn't be possible” - WeekendNotes
“One, big theatrical hit... Raw, brave and confronting" - The Plus Ones
created & performed by Andi Snelling
produced by Jennifer O'Sullivan (Kickin' Rad Productions)
So You Think You Khandallah
6:30pm, 21-25 May 2019
Random Stage at BATS TheatreYou’ve got talent. Now let's see what we can do with it."
It's 1982 and we're gonna live forever, but first we have to go through the blood, sweat and tears of Khandallah Academy of Performing Arts. A totally improvised soap opera about fitting in, standing out, finding ourselves and following our dreams. From the creators of Deep Space Naenae, Lyall Baywatch, and Mirror Miramar comes a brand new serial - follow the ongoing story nightly or dip your toes in for just one episode!
Warning: May contain leg warmers and sudden dance breaks.
“Countless moments of improvisational gold” - Theatreview
“Impressively epic improv” - TheatreviewPart of the NZ International Comedy Festival
Check out our online programme and summary of the story here!
Manless: Toxic Masculity & Tequlia
10:15pm, 14-16 March 2019, 25 minutes
Fringe at the Gryphon, 22 Ghuznee Street
Manless is a feminist, female two-hander comedy; a boisterous romp simultaneously pushing the boundaries of female aggression and putting the toxicity of masculinity under a drunkenly held microscope. Manless gender-bends catcalling and focuses on the hyper-masculinity and toxicity of this language. Plus, there’s a lot more tequila.
Post show, those invested in the themes explored are invited to share their impressions with the performers in the FatG bar. A content note: This show contains explicit language and references to sexual violence.
“It's only words... unless they're true.” David Mamet
Starring Lydia Raynes and Courtney Eggleton
Directed by Kacie Stetson
Part of New Zealand Fringe Festival 2019
Awkward Threesome
5:30pm, Tuesday 3 - Friday 13 March (No shows Sat - Mon)
Loop Project Space & Bar - Melbourne
"This is a style of improvisation that is beautiful to watch unfold, relying completely on the connection between the players onstage, and un-thwarted by any handle set to restrict such a free style of creation."
"Always nice to see performers who impress a crowd doing exactly what they love doing: extraordinary ad libs, flying high by the seats of their pants..." ★★★★
Part of Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2018
Awkward Threesome
8pm, 13 - 16 March
The Scruffy Bunny Improv Theatre, 100 Courtenay Place
"It’s so enjoyable to watch talented improvisors play on stage… Maybe don't be late to this one eh?"
Nominated, "Oustanding Ensemble" 2018 New Zealand Fringe
Part of New Zealand Fringe Festival 2018Mirror Miramar: An Improvised Soapathon
12pm - 10pm Saturday 17 March
The Scruffy Bunny Improv Theatre, 100 Courtenay Place
Once upon a time, on a peninsula not so far away, lived a town of strangely familiar characters living strangely normal lives… Folklore and fairytales are transported to modern-day Miramar in this ten hour improvathon.
You followed them into the stars in Deep Space Naenae, across the waves in Lyall Baywatch, and back to school in 13: The Soap; now Soap Factory wants to take you on a fantastical journey into the everyday. Starting at 12pm, with new episodes hourly and a cast of hilarious and talented improvisors powering through till 10pm, this is improv at its most intense - a single unfolding story over 10 hours. Come for just one episode, or stay and find out who will get their happy ending!
Starring: Christine Brooks, Clare Kerrison, Dianne Pulham, Jennifer O'Sullivan, Jonny Paul, Kate Wilson, Matt Powell, Sam Irwin, Steven Youngblood, and Wiremu Tuhiwai.
Just Duet
9:30pm, 6 - 10 March
The Scruffy Bunny Improv Theatre, 100 Courtenay Place
A tasty selection of Wellington's finest improvisors are paired in mouth-watering combinations to present new improvised morsels for the discerning palate. With a different three-course menu each night, you'll never go hungry. Bon appétit!
Featuring the talents of:
Cordelia Ann Black • Ben Ashby • Christine Brooks • Jed Davies • Greg Ellis • George Fenn • Will Harrison • Lyndon Hood • Anna MacLean • Lesa MacLeod-Whiting • Bethany Miller • Jennifer O'Sullivan • Matt Powell • Dianne Pulham • Lena Sammüller • Campbell Wright
Part of New Zealand Fringe Festival 2018
Deep Space Naenae
Soap Factory
NZ Fringe Festival 2017
BATS Theatre, Wellington
"You won't regret it. This is impressively epic improv."
"The sense of watching a well-established troupe at work enhances the pleasure this performance gives. The audience is happily won over – and stays that way. "
Taking Off The Bird Suit (2016 Edition)
NZ International Comedy Festival 2016
BATS Theatre, Wellington
Original concept by Christine Brooks
"All in all, there's a lot to love about Taking Off the Birdsuit. I love its mission. I love the structures that allow Birdsuit to free up new players; it's generous and I love seeing the way the different players are still figuring each other out in a way you don't always see with more established troupes.
I love how this show is encouraging me to think about the theatre ecosystem in which I swim. It is fun and funny. And I want this work to go so much further."
Awkward Threesome
NZ Fringe Festival 2016
BATS Theatre, Wellington
Fringe Award Winner: Tastiest Show
"It's remarkable how intuitively this threesome picks up on who is leading into the next part of which scenario. Each one balances assertive claiming of space and character with an admirable capacity to accept each other's offers and build on them."
— Theatreview“The bar is set high. Will the chemistry be just as good with the next mystery guests? Take the risk – it's bound to pay off.” — Theatreview
“Can’t-look-away hilarity that surprises and delights”
— Nelson Mail
Lyall Baywatch
Soap Factory
NZ Fringe Festival 2016
Fringe at the Gryphon, Wellington
"10 hours. 14 players. Countless moments of improvisational gold...
By the cliffhanger ending of episode two, I'm hooked. The plot is too thick to describe; metaphors are now as deep as the ocean they are protecting. The 4 episodes I see each increase in depth and tension, and having to go to the foyer in between episodes feels like the buffering symbol on a Breaking Bad binge."
— TheatreviewDeath Never Blinks
NZ Fringe Festival 2016
BATS Theatre, Wellington
"A delightful, silly, and funny delve into a radio drama... Each performer fully invests in the melodramatic fun of this parody of classic film noir style detective stories."
— Art Murmurs
Sam Smith in Laughing Gas
NZ International Comedy Festival 2015
Cavern Club, Wellington
Q Theatre, Auckland
"It's simply impossible not to like Smith. His cheeriness radiates across the cosy confines of the cellar at Q and although the show does seem a trifle haphazard at times, his unquenchable joie de vivre carries it on a high."
Definitely Not The Babysitters Club
BATS Theatre, Wellington
NZ International Comedy Festival 2015
Executive Produced by Kickin' Rad
"The BSC was popular, and so is this show, so book in if you want to see it. And if you have only the most tenuous connection to the BSC, you really should go see it. It's wonderful.
...When there is the least suggestion of non-canon, the place feels like it is going to erupt. It is such a sensational tease, and maybe the most amazing feeling I've had in a theatre in a long, long time."
Definitely Not Witches
BATS Theatre, Wellington
NZ Fringe Festival 2015
Executive Produced by Kickin' Rad
"Definitely Not Witches is a show right in my wheelhouse... this group will be playing together again at the Comedy Festival in Definitely Not the Babysitters Club, and I'm pretty excited for that one. I'm keen to see them play together again. "
"When one performer greeted another: “Hello Mr Policeman, actually no, Ms Policewoman, there’s no reason for you to be a man just because you’re a police officer,” we laughed. But I thought that this, and many of their other asides, revealed a nuanced feminism, one that pokes sly fun at the patriarchy while poking holes in it.
But gender politics played a very secondary role to the purpose of the evening – to make the audience laugh."
— Scoop
13: The Soap
Fringe at the Gryphon, NZ Fringe 2015
"The cast uniformly present well rounded characters and are great at keeping the narrative balls in the air... if you see them advertised, go, grab a beer and sit back for a wonderfully bumpy evening"
Suddenly Shakespeare
Fringe at the Gryphon
New Zealand Fringe Festival 2014, 2015
Directed by Lyndon Hood
"...there are some moments that really work. Like when Falstaff is searching for a cushion to use as a crown and finds a platypus cushion that squeaks. It is comic genius. Well chosen, props team and Falstaff... It's fun to take part and just geek out with other Shakespeare fans."
Here's A Thing: Late Night Improv
NZ Fringe Festival 2014
Produced by Kickin' Rad
Reprised at New Zealand Improv Festival 2014
"In these scenes I see performers at the height of their powers – doing difficult things with grace and humour."
Cannonball
NZ Fringe Festival, Auckland Fringe Festival 2013
Tour Production by Kickin' Rad
Winner: Best Solo Show (NZ Fringe)
Nominated: Standout Performer (NZ Fringe)
"Green Room Award winner Emily Taylor is not only an enormously talented comedic actress and impersonator, but she is also a very original writer."
"Taylor is an extremely talented performer, totally in control of her comedic material; it's a delight to behold."
