Paper Street Theatre

Founding (2011)

Dave Morris founded Paper Street Theatre in Victoria, BC in 2011 alongside original members including Missie Peters, Byron Kjeldsen, and Chris Gabel. Morris had been running improv classes in Victoria since 2009 before establishing the company. Paper Street was built on a distinctive approach: studying the styles of playwrights and theatrical traditions, then using that knowledge as material for fully improvised performances that embody those styles without scripted text.

Studio and Festival (2015 to Present)

In March 2015 the company opened its own dedicated studio space in Victoria, providing a permanent home for rehearsals, classes, and smaller performances. Paper Street also produces the Paper Street Theatre Improv Festival in Victoria. International festival appearances have taken the company to Vancouver, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Seattle, Chicago, and Romania, with shows including "An Improvised Quentin Tarantino" (Pick of the Fringe at the 2013 Victoria Fringe) and the ensemble narrative piece "Ants."

Paper Street Theatre approaches improvisation as a theatrical art form, studying dramatic styles and playwrights to create fully improvised works that embody those traditions without scripted material.

Paper Street Theatre produces three productions per season under the banner of playwright-inspired long-form improvisation. Each fall show channels a specific author's aesthetic: past productions include An Improvised Tennessee Williams, An Improvised Samuel Beckett, An Improvised Edgar Allan Poe, An Improvised Quentin Tarantino, The Willowman (inspired by Martin McDonagh), Isle of Cranes (inspired by Wes Anderson), The Glass Bell (inspired by Sylvia Plath), and Laughterhouse-Five (inspired by Kurt Vonnegut). The Piano Man, a recurring December production blending improvised songs and stories in a piano bar setting, has been staged multiple seasons. 52 Stories is artistic director Dave Morris's solo improvised storytelling show, which won two awards at the 2024 Victoria Fringe Festival, sold out at the 2025 Winnipeg Fringe Festival, and was held over at the 2025 Edmonton Fringe Festival. The annual Paper Street Theatre Improv Festival, staged at Intrepid Theatre, brings improvisers from across North America together under visiting directors for ensemble-built productions and public workshops.

Dave Morris founded Paper Street Theatre in Victoria, British Columbia in 2011 with a mandate to make improvised performance feel indistinguishable from scripted theatre. Operating with a small original ensemble that included founding members Missie Peters and Byron Kjeldsen, the company opened a dedicated studio space in Victoria in March 2015, giving it a permanent home for classes and rehearsals alongside its Intrepid Theatre season. Over more than fifty productions, Paper Street has built a catalog of playwright and genre-driven work that has appeared at festivals in Vancouver, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Seattle, and Romania, establishing the company as one of Canada's most internationally visible improv ensembles.

Company members Monica Ogden and Tony Adams co-created the NickelPumpernickel project, and Christina Patterson co-founded Launch Pad Theatre Company with multiple award-winning productions, demonstrating that the Paper Street training environment has generated independent creative careers beyond the company itself. Byron Kjeldsen and Nicole Malcolm co-created the Ants format used in company programming. Dave Morris has served as a regional director for the Canadian Improv Games and has taught internationally, extending the company's influence into the wider community. The annual festival, which has assembled performers from Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary, Portland, and Europe, has made Victoria a recurring point of convergence for North American theatrical improv.