Impro Australia

Origins: Sydney Theatresports Inc. (1985)

Theatresports arrived in Sydney in 1985, with performances beginning at Belvoir Street Theatre in Surry Hills. The original company, Sydney Theatresports Inc., became the first Australian incarnation of a dedicated improvisational theatre company and ran Theatresports in Sydney from the outset.

Transition to Impro Australia (~2000)

Sydney Theatresports Inc. went into liquidation in the late 1990s after attempting to purchase the Valhalla Cinema in Glebe, a bid to secure a permanent home for improvised comedy in Sydney. The following year, a group of key players from the original company came together and formed Impro Australia, a not-for-profit entity that carries the company's lineage into the present.

Programming and Ongoing Work

Impro Australia performs Theatresports at a range of Sydney venues including Belvoir Street Theatre and the Enmore Theatre, where the annual TheatreSports All-Stars shows have drawn large audiences. The company also runs the TheatreSports Schools Challenge (TSC) across NSW schools, providing competitive improvisation for secondary students.

Licensing and Scope

Impro Australia holds the New South Wales licence for the Theatresports format, granted through the International Theatresports Institute. The company also holds the Australian registered trademark for the word Theatresports when used in a performance context. In 2025 the company celebrated 40 years of continuous Theatresports performance in Sydney.

Impro Australia carries four decades of Sydney Theatresports history, operating as the NSW state Theatresports licensee and holder of the Australian performance trademark for the format.

Impro Australia holds the Australian trademark for Theatresports in performance contexts and has presented the format at venues ranging from Belvoir Street Theatre (where TheatreSports first appeared in Sydney in 1985) to the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House. Its signature recurring productions include: Scared Scriptless (weekly long-running show with a loyal subscriber audience), the Cranston Cup (annual competitive Theatresports season with heats and a grand final at the Enmore Theatre), TheatreSports All-Stars: Battle of the Champions (annual all-star competitive showcase, held at Enmore Theatre), Celebrity TheatreSports (annual celebrity-player format at Enmore Theatre), and the TheatreSports Schools Challenge (NSW inter-school competition across Junior, Intermediate, and Senior divisions, reaching more than 100 schools statewide with finals at the Enmore Theatre and The Actors Centre). The ABC television series Theatre Sports, produced in 1986 and aired in 1987, featured Impro Australia players and helped popularize the format nationally.

Impro Australia is Australia's longest-running Theatresports organization, holding the performance trademark for the word Theatresports in New South Wales and operating continuously since 1985. As the licensed provider for the International Theatresports Institute in New South Wales, it serves as the institutional backbone for competitive improv in the state, delivering school programs to thousands of students annually and running the TheatreSports Schools Challenge across more than 100 primary and secondary schools in Sydney, Wollongong, the Central Coast, and regional NSW.

The organization performed at the Expo '88 international showcase in Brisbane alongside teams from multiple countries, contributing to the global spread of the Theatresports format. Its 40-year institutional continuity has made it a training pipeline for Australian comic performers and a reference point for the broader Theatresports network, which the International Theatresports Institute describes as active in more than 90 member companies across 22 countries. Administrator John Barnier has overseen operational continuity while Artistic Director Julie Dunsmore has directed the flagship Enmore Theatre productions including the Cranston Cup finals and Celebrity TheatreSports.