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Created by Keith Johnstone

Directed by Veena Sood, featuring The LifeGame Ensemble



The Life Game™, as developed by Keith Johnstone, is an improvised staged biography of a guest’s life. The guest is interviewed about their life, and a team of improvisers and a director bring the stories to life. We begin with childhood, formative experiences, successes and failures, triumphs and heartbreaks, all the way to “how would you like to die?” It’s a journey of trivial things, to things that matter to the guest, to things that matter to all of us very much. At times hilarious, at times deeply moving, The Life Game is a show that reminds us that everyone, however ordinary, has an extraordinary life story to tell.

"Good impro can make you laugh, we love it, but soon the content is forgotten. Good scenes from the The Life Game stay with you always. They haunt you."

– Keith Johnstone



NOTE: This show is suitable for children aged 8 and over. We cannot accommodate younger children, toddlers or infants. Any show may contain mature content and language, parental discretion is advised.

× Created by Lisa Rowland (USA)

The Bechdel Test is a set of criteria created by feminist cartoonist and author Allison Bechdel. It asks: Does a work of fiction have at least one scene in it where two women talk about something other than a man? The remarkably low percentage of films and stories that pass this test points to the fact that we all have grown accustomed to creating and seeing stories centering around men. And as story creators we often perpetuate that pattern. Debuting on the main stage at BATS in August 2016, the Bechdel test format aims to explore the complexities, relationships, and stories of women. Simply deciding to make stories whose main characters are women - good, bad, likeable and not - is a departure from the stories that we often consume and create!
NOTE: This show is suitable for children aged 8 and over. We cannot accommodate younger children, toddlers or infants. Any show may contain mature content and language, parental discretion is advised.

× Directed by members of Loose Moose Theatre (Calgary), Vancouver TheatreSports, Rapid Fire Theatre (Edmonton), Unexpected Productions (Seattle)

The Theatresports Summit explores the Theatresports™ format as it is played by the ‘four pillar’ companies – from Calgary’s Loose Moose Theatre (1977) where the format was first performed as created by Keith Johnstone at The University of Calgary (it is the foundation format) to variations as performed by hometown favourites Vancouver TheatreSports (1980), Rapid Fire Theatre (1981), and Unexpected Productions (1983). Each night, two teams of mixed international delegates (and directed by a representative of one of the ‘pillar companies’) will compete against one another utilizing one of the four styles.

The final three nights will be a mash-up evening in the original foundation format featuring all the bells and whistles, horns and baskets!

× Directed by Laura Doorneweerd (Netherlands) featuring an international ensemble
Having previously headlined both the 2017 Mount Olymprov Improv Festival in Greece and the 2018 Finland International Improv Festival, Laura Doorneweerd brings The Ferocious Four to Vancouver: an improvised tale of action, power, and heroines. In every performance, this no-male cast comes together to give you a bad-ass improv show. Get ready for a story of a group of heroines collaborating to battle evil. If you like cool characters, female friendship and exciting action, you will love seeing these performers jump, move, chase, defuse, fight and basically... Kick ass.


NOTE: This show is suitable for children aged 8 and over. We cannot accommodate younger children, toddlers or infants. Any show may contain mature content and language, parental discretion is advised.

× Is finding love easier in the 21st century or has social media made it more complicated? Do people really expect to find the love-of-their-life through a dating app? Are apps even used to make connections in other parts of the world? Is the dating scene as tough in Dublin or Auckland or Tokyo as it is in Vancouver? How do singles meet in Trondheim and Bangalore? This show brings together a cast made up of VTS ensemble members and international delegates for a global take on the trials, tribulations and triumphs of dating in the digital age. It’s all in good fun with audience suggestions used to spark the scenes.
NOTE: OK Tinder is a 17+ show, persons age 17 & 18 must be accompanied by an adult. We regret we cannot accommodate families with infants or toddlers. Shows may contain mature content and language, parental discretion is advised.

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Directed by Dan O’Connor, featuring an international ensemble


With Play UnScripted, the company starts with audience suggestions and improvises a contemporary play from scratch with no pre-set genre, no guidelines, and no safety net. Inspired by modern playwrights like Christopher Durang, Rajiv Joseph, Tracy Letts, Yasmina Reza and Sarah Ruhl, Play UnScripted presents a play built on pure imagination where every performance is completely unique – and will never be seen again.


NOTE: This show is suitable for children aged 8 and over. We cannot accommodate younger children, toddlers or infants. Any show may contain mature content and language, parental discretion is advised.

× The audience jumps on a bus with masked Mexican luchador El Jaguar for a hilarious one-hour tour of the city where the focus is on fiesta not facts. Seating is very limited as the performance actually happens on a bus as it wends its way through Vancouver. Three performances: Fri. Oct.18, 5 p.m. and Sat. Oct.19, 5 p.m. and Sun.Oct.20, 5 p.m. All performances on a bus – embarkation point TBA, bus leaves promptly at 5 p.m.

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Created by Keith Johnstone

Directed by Veena Sood, featuring The LifeGame Ensemble



The Life Game™, as developed by Keith Johnstone, is an improvised staged biography of a guest’s life. The guest is interviewed about their life, and a team of improvisers and a director bring the stories to life. We begin with childhood, formative experiences, successes and failures, triumphs and heartbreaks, all the way to “how would you like to die?” It’s a journey of trivial things, to things that matter to the guest, to things that matter to all of us very much. At times hilarious, at times deeply moving, The Life Game is a show that reminds us that everyone, however ordinary, has an extraordinary life story to tell.

"Good impro can make you laugh, we love it, but soon the content is forgotten. Good scenes from the The Life Game stay with you always. They haunt you."

– Keith Johnstone



NOTE: This show is suitable for children aged 8 and over. We cannot accommodate younger children, toddlers or infants. Any show may contain mature content and language, parental discretion is advised.

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Directed by Felipe Ortiz (Colombia) & Patti Stiles (Australia) This show is an elegant excavation of the unexpected secrets that places hold. Improvisers take inspiration from these treasure troves of memory and craft surprising and delightful worlds. Join us for an engaging and emotive show that unearths personal stories and comedic treasures! Lugares (places) invites members of the audience to describe a special setting, such as a house of a grandparent or a car you commute in. The improvisers create exciting new stories and parallel worlds that will change the way we see the spaces around us, and connect us to our own personal places. This is improvised theatre that is crafty, challenging and adventurous.



Lugares – a result of an international collaboration – was created by Felipe Ortiz (Colombia), Patti Stiles (Australia), Jim Libby (Austria), Mike Kennard (Canada) and Sarah Michaelson (Canada).


NOTE: This show is suitable for children aged 8 and over. We cannot accommodate younger children, toddlers or infants. Any show may contain mature content and language, parental discretion is advised.

× Directed by members of Loose Moose Theatre (Calgary), Vancouver TheatreSports, Rapid Fire Theatre (Edmonton), Unexpected Productions (Seattle)

The Theatresports Summit explores the Theatresports™ format as it is played by the ‘four pillar’ companies – from Calgary’s Loose Moose Theatre (1977) where the format was first performed as created by Keith Johnstone at The University of Calgary (it is the foundation format) to variations as performed by hometown favourites Vancouver TheatreSports (1980), Rapid Fire Theatre (1981), and Unexpected Productions (1983). Each night, two teams of mixed international delegates (and directed by a representative of one of the ‘pillar companies’) will compete against one another utilizing one of the four styles.

The final three nights will be a mash-up evening in the original foundation format featuring all the bells and whistles, horns and baskets!

× Bring the sizzle to your Friday night as an all-star cast of VTS ensemble members and visiting international improvisers explore the funny side of naughty. From BDSM to fetishes, threesomes to porn, no subject will be deemed too scandalous to spoof.


Based on audience suggestions this is not a show for the faint of heart, those with delicate sensibilities or anyone under the age of 19. It is for mature adults who want to get their laugh off.

× Directed by Inbal Lori (Israel) – featuring an international ensemble



We choose to tell stories about things that bother us, and to bring the point of view of professional comedians improvising a rich comedy. The show is made of different scenes all inspired by a current topic given by the audience. The topic then sends the actors to explore the darkness and light, the needs and fears, the limitations and borders of the topic in our lives and societies.
It’s a satiric, criticizing, vigilant show that wants the audience to be reflective and thoughtful. We want to use improv and comedy to criticize reality, and show its pain and beauty. It’s a show that thinks that now is the time to use your art form to show what you think and feel.




NOTE: This show is suitable for children aged 8 and over. We cannot accommodate younger children, toddlers or infants. Any show may contain mature content and language, parental discretion is advised.