Tackling the mountain

It's Easter this weekend (happy holidays to those who celebrate, happy long weekend to those who don't) and my family and I are heading to Taranaki. We're gonna go up the mountain.

I've done this twice before as a child, but I only remember the first of these, when I was 11. Went up with my dad and another kid/dad combo - I remember it being an absolute slog and Dad had to bribe me with burgers to get me up the last rock face. When we got back down my younger sister (aged 8) was furious that she had missed out, so Dad agreed to take her after a rest day. On the day they went up, he told Mum they'd just go until she got tired, and then they'd turn around and come back down.

She didn't get tired. So lucky ol' Dad climbed Taranaki twice in three days, and I don't think he knew he could do that until the opportunity was forced upon him. I'm sure there's a lesson in there for us all, somehow related to improv. I'll work it out on the mountain.

snippets

• The Theatresports Exhibition Match (details below) is a soft launch of Locomotive's Theatresports for high schools programme. If you know teens who would love it, send them our way!
• Jill Bernard (amazing US improvisor from Minneapolis who wrote the Small Cute Book of Improv) has released a short sharp ebook called This Is What I Know About Teaching Improv 2026. It's so great.

coming up…

shows

• Theatresports: Exhibition Match (Locomotive). Thursday 9 April, 7:30pm at BATS Theatre, tix $15-25.
  "Theatresports™ is back in the capital! We are thrilled to bring you a one-off exhibition match, to whet your appetite for the improv to come."
• Find Your Tribe (Best on Tap). Friday 10 April, 7:30pm at BATS Theatre, tix $15-25.
  "Following the advice of lonely hearts experts everywhere, join Best On Tap as we twist those old rom com tropes and Find our Tribe! We’ll take your special interest and turn it into a reason, a season or a lifetime of friendship."
• Elsewhere In The Building (WIT). Friday 10 April, 7pm at Thistle Hall, tix $5/koha.
  "Elsewhere in the Building is a friendly improv format that happens in different places within an overarching location suggested by the audience, creating a world of multiple scenes. This is the first of a series of monthly shows WIT will be holding at Thistle Hall."
• Late Night Knife Fight (Locomotive). Saturday 11 April, 7:30pm at BATS Theatre, tix $15-25.
  "The monthly improv battle where three teams face off in a fight for glory, honour, and the audience's favour. The winner returns in the headline spot next month; the losers wail and gnash their teeth."
• Farce Onion (PopRox). 14 - 18 April, 7:00pm at BATS Theatre, tix $15-25.
  "Join a new detective every night and discover all the layers of lust, betrayal, deceit and hilarity behind our latest victim for one week only at BATS Theatre."

workshops

• Intro to Improv (PopRox). 6 week course starting Tues 12 May. Send your improv curious friends!
• Improv Workouts (PopRox). Monthly-ish, various times and locations, tix $20 per session or get a season pass. Open Sessions for all experience levels, Heavy Lifters for those with a solid improv foundation, and Undisputed Champions for ‘highly skilled improvisers with strong performance experience’.
• WIT Tuesdays (Wellington Improv Troupe). 6-8pm, Toi Poneke, various teachers. Drop in, koha. Check the most recent newsletter (at the link) for info on this week’s session.

ka kite anō

That’s all for this week, stay safe and well xx