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Wellington Improvisation Troupe
 
 
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The Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT) is Wellington’s not-for-profit, community-based improvisational theatre
Theatre

Theatre is the branch of the performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one or more actor, isolated in time and/or Theater , present themselves to Audience." By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of human tendency for story telling....
 group. WIT performs and teaches the skills of improvisational theatre at community venues around the Wellington
Wellington

Wellington is the Capital of New Zealand, situated at the southwestern tip of the North Island between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. The Wellington Urban Area is the major population centre of the southern North Island and ranks as New Zealand's third most populous Urban areas of New Zealand with residents....
 region.

Theatre is made up on the spot by some of Wellington’s leading improvisers and courageous newcomers alike, based on suggestions from the audience
Audience

An audience is a group of person who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any Media ....
. WIT players share a love of storytelling
Storytelling

Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, s, and sounds often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture and in every land as a means of entertainment, education, preservation of culture and in order to instill moral values....
 and work together as a team to inspire the audience.






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The Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT) is Wellington’s not-for-profit, community-based improvisational theatre
Theatre

Theatre is the branch of the performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one or more actor, isolated in time and/or Theater , present themselves to Audience." By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of human tendency for story telling....
 group. WIT performs and teaches the skills of improvisational theatre at community venues around the Wellington
Wellington

Wellington is the Capital of New Zealand, situated at the southwestern tip of the North Island between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. The Wellington Urban Area is the major population centre of the southern North Island and ranks as New Zealand's third most populous Urban areas of New Zealand with residents....
 region.

Theatre is made up on the spot by some of Wellington’s leading improvisers and courageous newcomers alike, based on suggestions from the audience
Audience

An audience is a group of person who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any Media ....
. WIT players share a love of storytelling
Storytelling

Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, s, and sounds often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture and in every land as a means of entertainment, education, preservation of culture and in order to instill moral values....
 and work together as a team to inspire the audience. WIT theatre is sometimes serious, often hilarious and always totally unpredictable.

WIT members performed in the ‘Micetro’ show that won the New Zealand International Fringe Festival Best Comedy Award in 2003, and decided it was about time they formed a group that had a name. WIT brought together many of Wellington’s casual improvoholics, out of work actor
Actor

An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
s and bored public servants. Now made up of thirty members, the group welcomes people from all walks of life.

The establishment of WIT reflects the enduring popularity of improvisation
Improvisation

Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings....
 around the globe and its resurgence in New Zealand.

WIT launched all of its core shows over 2004, participated in the New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
 International Fringe and Comedy Festivals and become licensed as an International Theatresports Institute group. WITs core shows are:
  • Battle of WITs, a short-form elimination format that pits beginners against experienced improvisers in the quest for a used light-bulb.
  • Gorilla Theatre, a licensed International Theatresports Format where four experienced improvisers compete as directors of scenes to take home a prize – the troupe’s resident gorilla
    Gorilla

    Gorillas are the largest of the living primates. They are ground-dwelling herbivores that inhabit the forests of Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies....
    .
  • The Improv Divas, New Zealand’s first all-female improvisation act that performs short-form improv – ‘highly inventive’ (National Business Review
    National Business Review

    The National Business Review is a weekly New Zealand newspaper aimed at the business sector. The paper is owned by Barry Colman who also publishes the Grocers Review and several other small trade publications....
    ).
  • Joe Improv, New Zealand’s first professional youth
    Youth

    Youth is the period between childhood and adulthood, generally from ages 13-21. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals exist at all ages....
     improv act and WIT’s militant youth wing.


WIT Objectives

WIT’s specific objectives as listed in the incorporated
Incorporation (business)

Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organization, sports club or a government of a new city or town....
 society’s founding document are as follows:
  • To promote, develop and foster the performance of improvised theatre and comedy
    Comedy

    Comedy as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western culture origins are found in Ancient Greece....
     in the Wellington region.
  • To teach the skills of improvised theatre and comedy through workshops, classes and any other means to members and to the wider Wellington community.
  • To encourage the having of fun and the not taking of oneself too seriously.


WIT Creative Philosophy

The Creative Philosophy of WIT resides in the foundation of the teachings of Keith Johnstone
Keith Johnstone

Keith Johnstone is a drama instructor whose teachings and books have focused on improvisational theatre and have had a major influence on the art of improvisation....
, a world renowned teacher in the art of improvisation and its links to the theatre.

WIT has three creative drivers – telling stories, cooperation and having fun. WIT believe these drivers are interdependent and create the best kind of improvisational theatre. This philosophy makes WIT unique in New Zealand and is reflected in its choice of a not-for-profit organisational structure. Comedy
Comedy

Comedy as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western culture origins are found in Ancient Greece....
 is regarded as the pre-requisite that improvisation is best known for on a public front. However, the philosophy of WIT aims to also explore beyond the bounds of purely comedic improvisation.