EXIT LAUGHING…

This week (February 3 - 6, 2010) marks the final performances of the Vancouver TheatreSports^® League at the New Revue Stage on Granville Island. What can only be described as the end of the Second Act, Vancouver TheatreSports presents the final 4 nights of programming at the Revue. After 12 fantastic years of performing to more than 200,000 enthusiasts yearly, 4 nights a week, 52 weeks a year, we will take a brief intermission. Look for us late March when we begin Act Three of our story at our new venue on Granville Island – a beautiful 180 seat waterfront theatre at 1502 Duranleau Street.

OUR STORY
For those of you recently relocated to the West Coast, or perhaps too young to know, Vancouver TheatreSports^® League (VTSL) began in 1980 and is now a local institution and a worldwide phenomenon, producing and staging some of the most daring and innovative improv in the world.

ACT ONE
It was 29 years ago (September 1980) that the Vancouver TheatreSports^® League was born at City Stage on Thurlow Street in downtown Vancouver. At the time, a new theatrical format called TheatreSports^® was being pioneered in Calgary by university instructor Keith Johnstone. A group of young and eager actors in Vancouver were intrigued by this new format (structuring a theatre event like a hockey game and scoring it like figure skating) and began playing the games.

The group convinced City Stage (an established theatre company) to loan them their theatre space once a week, after the City Stage shows were done. Many nights, they were literally hauling people off the street, begging people to come in and watch this new style of theatre. At the end of the night, the hat was passed and often there was just enough to buy a case of beer.

Word spread quickly of something radical going on off of Robson Street. It wasn’t long before crowds were lining up 3 deep, well around the corner of the theatre and spilling out onto busy Robson Street. Vancouver theatre audiences had not seen anything like this. They were being asked to help create the night’s entertainment, to actually help shape the direction of the show. And even wilder still - there were no scripts. Audiences were determining names of characters, locations for the action to take place, dialogue, and in some cases, playing supporting cast members.

The skill of Vancouver TheatreSports^® improvisers was soon proven. At Expo ’86, VTSL hosted three tournaments: Canadian, North American and International events. Vancouver played against the best improvisers in the world, from Sydney Australia, London England, and New York City, with Vancouver TheatreSports^® coming out on top. In 1988, Vancouver TheatreSports^® was victorious at the World TheatreSports^® Championship at Expo ’88 in Brisbane, Australia beating out teams from Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, and the USA. Two years later, VTSL took away the world trophy again at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand. In 1993, VTSL was the only team to receive a perfect score from the judges in the 2nd Annual Just For Laughs Montreal International Improv Tournament and took top honours, beating out North Carolina in the finals. One year later, they did it again at the 3rd Annual Just For Laughs Tournament. At the 1995 Just For Laughs Tournament, VTSL was victorious yet again.

By 1993, VTSL was performing 11 shows a week and consistently drawing cult-like capacity crowds. Vancouver TheatreSports^® now ran the theatre they once begged to perform at and they had renamed it the Back Alley Theatre. But as the city developed, property rentals skyrocketed and VTSL was forced to let go of their downtown home.

ACT TWO
Boasting six International Improv Comedy Awards and starring in several television specials, VTSL continued to wow audiences at the New Revue Stage on Granville Island. Initially VTSL subleased the Revue Stage from the Arts Club Theatre for 10 years, the byproduct of the “Save the Stanley Campaign” that VTSL undertook with the Arts Club. Subsequently the company extended their stay for an additional two and half years while pursuing their own permanent venue on Granville Island.

ACT THREE
This year Vancouver TheatreSports^® celebrates 30 years of laughter. The names of VTSL players and alumni are a veritable who’s who of the North American entertainment and improv scenes. Award winning performers, TV celebrities and international personalities have filled out the ranks of VTSL’s fast thinking players, including Ryan Stiles & Colin Mochrie (Whose Line Is It Anyway), Ellie Harvie (The New Addams Family), Dean Haglund (The X-Files & The Lone Gunmen) and Nancy Robertson (Corner Gas) to name a few.

In March 2010 VTSL will open a new theatre on Granville Island and continue to present award-winning mainstage shows as well as provide a platform for tomorrow’s emerging talent.

MISSION STATEMENT: The Vancouver TheatreSports League (VTSL) is a unique professional theatre organization dedicated to the growth and exploration of exceptional improv-based work for the purpose of challenging and inspiring the community.