Two-time International Theatresports Champion comes to Wellington for the NZIF!

Auckland improviser Lori Dungey comes to Wellington to lead a New Zealand Improvisation Festival 2015 Ensemble in BOOYA (Blow it Out Your Ahem). On Thursday 8 October at 6.30pm at BATS Theatre audience members can expect strong, bold and high quality story alongside some slick moves of modern dance.

BOOYA is a thrilling mash-up of Harold improvisation format and Modern Dance. In 2000 Rachel Rosenthal was tasked by Unexpected Productions in Seattle with making sluggish improvisors look like amazing movement artists. Rosenthal was an interdisciplinary performer, a combination of Yoda and Martha Graham, and her dynamic form of movement was the perfect pairing with Harold; a long form improvisation format.  The results are stunning, hilarious and quite unexpected.

Lori Dungey has been a professional improvisor, actor, writer, director and tutor for over 35 years. She came to Auckland from Vancouver for the International Theatresports Commonwealth Games Festival in 1990 and stayed on as Artistic Director for the Wellington Theatre Company, The Improvisors. She's currently a Creative Director, performer and trainer with ConArtists, (formerly Theatresports Auckland).

She’s a two-time international Theatresports champion and in 2005 her NZ team was crowned ‘Masters of the Universe’ at Edmonton’s International Improvaganza. 

Lori has devised and performed in over 50 improvised productions - both long and short form, including Suspect: A Game of Murder, an improvised murder mystery that's been performed throughout Canada, Sweden, USA, Australia and NZ. Also with ConArtists; Enid Untold: Five Go Mad on Improv - an Enid Blyton themed long form, last year was Oliver Twisted, a Charles Dickens inspired long form and for this year's NZ International Comedy Festival and a new longform New Zombieland: An Improvised Musical.

She's taught improvisation throughout, NZ, Fiji, Germany, Sydney, Melbourne, Seattle and Vancouver. Every year she goes to Hawkes Bay to teach impov at the National Youth Drama School. She is also a tutor for ConArtists Theatresports Youth Program (TYP) and co-wrote the teaching manual. 

Lori was a hobbit in Lord of the Rings and each year she goes to Germany to MC and perform improv at the largest LOTR’s convention in Europe, RingCon.

BOOYA is part of the New Zealand Improvisation Festival 2015 at BATS Theatre. For booking enquiries, visit the BATS Theatre website bats.co.nz

For media enquiries please contact Festival Publicist Pippa Drakeford
pippa.drakeford@gmail.com / 0224762036