The Theatresports Format
Theatresports is an improvisation show format created by British Theatre Director turned Canadian Professor Keith Johnstone.
The format was inspired by professional wrestling. The goal was to create a form of theatre which was exciting, dynamic and engaged the audience more like a sports match than a piece of high brow theatre. Keith also wanted to give performers an environment in which they could take risks and challenge themselves.
There are different versions of Theatresports around the world (don’t tell the Canadians!) and in Brisbane we perform a version referred to as Aussie Rules (which is common in Australia and New Zealand). The main difference between the various styles are the number of teams and how games or scenes are selected.
The teams
In Youth Theatresports, there will normally be 4-6 teams in a heat. Each team will be made up of 2 - 6 performers.
The show format
The MC will enter stage and introduce themselves, the musician, judges and explain the concept for the show.
The MC will call each team to stage and have them perform a quick 30-second introduction. This intro can be pre-planned.
The MC will then call the teams to stage one-by-one in each round to perform a scene or game.
Round 1 - the MC will call the teams to stage and ask each team to perform a 1-minute game, with the game selected by the team from the ‘short games list’. After each game or round the judges will announce the scores for each team.
Round 2 - the MC will call the teams to stage in a different order to Round 1 and ask each team to perform a 2-minute game, with the game selected by the team from the ‘short games list’.
Round 3 - The MC will call the teams to stage in a different order to Round 1 and 2 and ask each team to perform a 3-minute game, with the game selected by the team from the ‘long-games list’ or, in the case of senior teams, the MC will give them an offer for an ‘Open Scene’.
Break - there will be a short break for teams to have a snack, get a drink, strategize etc.
Round 4 - the MC will call the teams to stage in a different order to Round 1, 2 & 3 and ask each team to perform a 4-minute game, with the game selected by the team from the ‘long games list’. No scores are announced during or at the end of the final round.
The MC will call the judges to stage who will announce the winners of the show. They will also announce any prizes or magic moments (which are examples of excellent improvisation through out the show).
What we don’t do
Theatresports traditionally had a ‘Horn of Salvation’. This was a horn blown by the judges to get a team off stage if they are boring. While a common feature in adult competitions, we have decided against including it in the youth competition.
We also do not use the Basket of shame or variations on this concept (such as the sin bin) which are ‘punishments’ inflicted upon performers who say offensive material or somehow disrupt the show. Again, while this can be fun in an adult show context we are of the view it doesn’t have a place in a youth competition.
We have replaced the function of the horn and the basket of shame with sidecoaching by the MC. Our view is that this is a more effective way of providing teams feedback and supporting them to create better work.
Finally, we do not use time-outs. This was a part of Theatresports in the past and involved teams having 5-10 seconds before their scene started to do some quick planning. We don’t think this is helpful as it does not encourage good improvisation technique.