Tightrope Theatre

Sour Dog Theatre in Calgary (2014 to 2017)

Ali Froggatt, Sarah Ferguson, and Quinn Contini founded Sour Dog Theatre in Calgary, Alberta in 2014, performing improv comedy in the Calgary market before the company's founders relocated.

Relocation to Vancouver (2017)

The company moved to Vancouver in 2017, establishing itself in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood on Main Street. In Vancouver the company built a weekly performance program and a class curriculum for all levels.

Rebrand as Tightrope Theatre (2020)

In 2020 the company rebranded from Sour Dog Theatre to Tightrope Theatre, adopting a new identity in its Vancouver home.

Applied Improv Programming

Tightrope has developed improv programs for health and wellness in partnership with the Parkinson Society of BC and the BC Brain Wellness Program, bringing applied improv to participants living with neurological conditions. This programming represents an applied dimension unusual for an independent improv company.

Tightrope Theatre is a weekly Vancouver improv company that combines regular performance and training with applied improv programs for health and wellness, including work with the Parkinson Society of BC.

Tightrope produces weekly improv shows in its 50-seat theatre at 2343 Main Street, Vancouver. The company partners with Arts Club Theatre Company on an eight-week Improv Flight course covering failure acceptance, connection building, and stage storytelling. Jeff Gladstone leads an Improv Meets Devising Theatre workshop series that combines improvisation with theatrical creation techniques.

Tightrope Theatre filled a gap in Vancouver's improv landscape by establishing a dedicated home for Keith Johnstone-style impro. Ali Froggatt and Jeff Gladstone brought together Gladstone's two decades of Vancouver performance connections (including his background as a Loose Moose alumni) and Froggatt's Calgary training roots, creating a venue that expanded the city's options beyond existing improv companies. The theatre's integration of mask, clown, movement, puppetry, and performance art alongside traditional improv broadened the definition of improvisational theatre in Vancouver.