Court Jesters
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The Court Jesters is a professional improv company founded in 1989 and based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is a subsidiary of the Court Theatre professional theatre company, acting as a second company within the theatre.
The group provide entertainment for corporate and private clients, run weekly community improv workshops and an annual Theatresports competition for high schools, as well as performing their own weekly show, Scared Scriptless.
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[edit] History
Theatresports at The Court Theatre began in 1987 under the direction of Bryan Aitken and Judie Douglass. This was largely due to the upswing in popularity of improvised theatre internationally and the desire to introduce it to a New Zealand audience. The popularity of the style led to the formation of a permanent improvisational wing of The Court Theatre under the moniker "The Court Jesters" in late 1989.
In 1990 The Court Jesters manager Michael Robinson began the late-night improvised comedy show Scared Scriptless, at an 11pm timeslot every Friday at The Court Theatre. Scared Scriptless still runs to this day, and as such is the longest-running show in New Zealand. Original members of the company were John Hudson, Patrick Duffy, Geoff Dolan, KC Kelly, Greg Cooper, Ross Gumbley, Cal Wilson, Simon Peacock, Susan Fogarty, Matthew Gould, Kevin Smith, Craig Cooper, Carl Nixon, Andie Spargo and Michael Robinson.
During the rest of the 1990s the Jesters expanded their repertoire with corporate entertainment and teaching improv/theatresports to high schools (as part of the "Theatresports in Schools" programme) and community improvisation classes. The Jesters also had considerable success with dinner theatre including a show at Mona Vale called The Wedding.
In 1994 The Court Jesters sent a team of improvisors to the World Theatresports Championships in Los Angeles. Teams from the UK, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Denmark, America, New Zealand, The Netherlands and other countries competed. New Zealand's team, comprising Simon Peacock, Cal Wilson, Susan Fogarty and Greg Cooper, won the competition.
The late 90s saw the company push the boundaries of improvisational practice through script-based improv works such as I Spy, The X-Philes, Blood, A Fistful of Dolores and Doctor Pussy Finger Says No To Tomorrow. The company's first fully scripted work was The Complete History of New Zealand (Abridged). First presented in Christchurch in 1998, the show continues to be presented throughout the country, the most recent production having occurred in 2006 at the FUEL New Zealand Theatre Festival in Hamilton. The company also pioneered a school holiday theatre programme using tight casts of three to four actors and scripts that could effectively use the main stage sets for daytime performances. The Court Theatre continues to use this production model for holiday performances.
Alongside the new-found confidence with scripted and part-scripted work, The Court Jesters continued to explore pure improv. The 1997 season of Abandon Script used an approach that saw a full 90-minute show generated from a single word offered by the audience.
By the early 2000s, natural attrition saw the company with only one original member (Andie Spargo). In 2002 the then-current members, dissatisfied with their relationship with The Court Theatre, left to form their own corporate entertainment/improvisation business, 'The Outwits'. In response, The Court Theatre announced that it was reforming The Court Jesters under the management of Nicola Wellbourn and the direction and tutelage of Patrick Duffy (one of the original Jesters who had left the troupe in the early-mid 90s). They held open auditions and from the various actors, singers, entertainers, comedians, street performers, and improvisors who applied formed the new troupe of Court Jesters in December of 2002, effectively a reboot for the company.
These new Jesters took over Scared Scriptless, Theatresports In Schools and corporate entertainment at the beginning of 2003. Effectively starting from scratch, the Jesters had to rebuild a fan base and increase audiences for Scared Scriptless, as well as attract more corporate entertainment work and retain the goodwill of The Court Theatre Management. While described as a "hard slog" by many, progress was made financially and artistically.
In 2005 Kirsty Gillespie took over as manager of the Court Jesters with Jeff Clark remaining as assistant to the manager. While Patrick Duffy remained an active member of the Jesters, Ross Gumbley (another original Court Jester who had moved to Centrepoint Theatre in the mid 90s then returned to take the position of Associate Artistic Director of The Court Theatre in 2000) took a much more active role in the performance side of the company.
At the beginning of 2006 the Court Jesters enjoyed a marked surge in numbers at Scared Scriptless (coupled with a change of the start time to 10pm) and continued to build audiences, often moving the show to the larger Court One venue to accommodate ticket sales. Ross Gumbley was appointed Artistic Director of the Court Theatre in March of 2006, effectively securing the company's position.
In May 2006 the company received improvisation tutelage from Keith Johnstone to couple the rise in financial success with increased artistic standards. Scared Scriptless ended its 2006 season having set a new record for box office sales.
[edit] Performers
Over the years the roster of The Jesters has changed regularly.
The original members were either acting interns at The Court Theatre or were brought in through auditions and recruitment. Members often left to pursue other careers or move overseas; subsequently people from school teams, workshops or other towns were regularly recruited into the company as "Associate" Jesters - jesters who played Scared Scriptless semi-regularly but were not used for corporate work or permanently contracted. By the mid-1990s, many if not all of the troupe were 'second-generation' jesters, having been coached/taught by the Court Jesters themselves and gone from Associate to Full Jestership.
When the company reformed in late 2002, many of the new troupe were garnered from the University of Canterbury Comedy Club, high school teams and other entertainment groups/organisations. Again, there were numerous reshufflings and recruitments as the company continued to evolve.
At present the Court Jesters have a relatively stable roster of approximately sixteen Jesters.
[edit] Performances
The Jesters perform a wide variety of improvised and semi-scripted shows, primarily improvisational theatre. They also regularly perform as corporate entertainers for businesses, societies, groups and festivals around Christchurch and New Zealand.
The primary Court Jesters show is Scared Scriptless, a short-form improvisation show on at 10pm (originally 11pm) every Friday at The Court Theatre. The show has been running since 1990 and is New Zealand's longest-running comedy show.
"Fairyable" was performed in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens in February 2004 as part of the Chistchurch City Council's "Summertimes" festival. The format of the show was a long-form improvised fairytale.
In 2006 two more shows were staged to capitalise on "vacant" theatre slots in Court Two: "The Early Early Late Show", essentially Scared Scriptless at an earlier time and "A Very Merry Scriptless", a family-friendly improvisation show running for the four weekends before Christmas. Both shows had very strong box office numbers and in 2007 three devised shows were scheduled in the rebranded Court Two - now "The Forge": Radio Ha Ha; Chatterbox and a revival season of A Very Merry Scriptless. All had solid attendance and positive critical acclaim.
It is expected that at least two devised "Jester" shows will feature in future seasons at The Forge.
[edit] See also
- Kiwi Jokers: The Rise and Rise of New Zealand Comedy, Matt Elliott, HarperCollins Publishers, 1997
- Theatresports Down Under, Lyn Pierce, Players Pr; 2Rev Ed edition, February 1997
