Washington Improv Theater

Washington Improv Theater (WIT) is an improvisational comedy theater company in Washington, D.C., specializing in long-form improv.[3][4] It was founded in 1986 by Carole Douglis.[5][6] Its shows are based at Studio Theatre on the 14th Street corridor, although its teams also use several other venues. Roughly 20,000 people attend WIT shows annually.[1]

Washington Improv Theater
Formation1986 (1986)
TypeTheatre group
PurposeImprovisational comedy
Location
Artistic director(s)
Mark Chalfant[2]
Websitewitdc.org

History
The Source Theater, WIT's former venue

WIT was founded in 1986 by Carole Douglis, but it went dormant in 1992.[5] It was revived by Douglis and several others as a consensus-based collective in 1998,[5] and performed initially in the basement of the Universalist National Memorial Church, and soon after other venues around D.C. It began offering its own improv training program in 2000. In 2004, it hired its first full-time artistic and executive director, Mark Chalfant.[5] In 2008, it began performing at the 150-seat black box at Source Theater on 14th Street, the former venue of Source Theatre Company now operated by CultureDC.[7] It continued expanding, and in FY2019 hosted 325 performances with an estimated 20,590 attendees.[2] In 2022–2023, it took up a one-year residency at Studio Theatre.[8]

Activities

WIT hosts over 300 performances annually featuring a number of different in-house ensembles and visiting teams. Its performances have received favorable reviews from critics.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] They vary in form — for instance, iMusical is an improvised musical.[16]

WIT's Tuesday evening pay-what-you-can Harold Night performances, begun in April 2010,[5] feature four teams each performing half-hour harold sets.[17] WIT also hosts an annual improv marathon festival, Improvalooza,[18] a March madness-style competition, dubbed the Fighting Improv Smackdown Tournament,[19] and performances or lessons at various other venues, such as local schools[2] and the Kennedy Center.[20]

WIT's improv classes enrolled 1,728 students in FY2019[2] across a five-level curriculum.

WIT runs a program for corporate clients, "WIT at Work".[21][3] In 2019, the program worked with 79 clients with a total of 2900 participants.[2]

Notable performers

References
  1. "About WIT". Washington Improv Theater. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  2. "WIT FY2019 Annual Report" (PDF). Washington Improv Theater. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  3. Lyons, Kathryn (1 August 2019). "Why D.C. isn't too uptight for improv". Roll Call. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  4. Lefrak, Mikaela (22 January 2019). "'Yes, And...': Furloughed Workers Turn To Improv During Shutdown". WAMU. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  5. "History". Washington Improv Theater. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  6. Padget, Jonathan (25 December 2003). "Making It Up as They Go Works Just Fine for WIT". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  7. "CulturalDC Programs". CulturalDC. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  8. "Washington Improv Theater Celebrates 25th Anniversary Season with Year-long Residency at Studio Theatre". Maryland Theatre Guide (Press release). 15 September 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  9. Brickman, Ravelle (5 December 2017). "Review: 'Citizens' Watch' at Washington Improv Theater". DC Metro Theater Arts. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  10. Katz, Lauren (19 September 2015). "The Women's Voices Theater Festival: 'The October Issue' at Washington Improv Theater". DC Metro Theater Arts. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  11. Griffin, Dominic (12 July 2017). "Washington Improv Theater Reinvents The Teen Movie With Its Summer School Series 'Yearbook'". DCist. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  12. Greenberg, Rudi (28 October 2019). "Comedians Are Staging Improvised Funerals For Alexandra Petri, Popville's Dan Silverman, And Audience Members". DCist. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  13. Rule, Doug (8 November 2018). ""WIT Road Show" may just be the tonic people need for these anxious times". Metro Weekly. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  14. Catlin, Roger (21 September 2015). "Making it up as they go". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  15. Wren, Celia (19 October 2016). "Washington Improv spoofs presidential campaign". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  16. Mostafavi, Kendall (14 November 2019). "Expect the unexpected in Washington Improv Theater's 'Life and Death with WIT: Hellcat and iMusical'". DC Metro Theater Arts. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  17. Emmer, Christa (4 August 2016). "Best Improv Comedy Nights In Washington DC". Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  18. Goldstein, Jessica (13 August 2013). "Backstage: Improvapalooza's 7th year packed with 'explosive creativity'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  19. Horwitz, Jane (12 March 2012). "FIST improv tournament provides comedy lovers a different kind of March Madness". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  20. Shepherd, Brittany (24 October 2018). "Those People You Didn't Recognize on the Kennedy Center's Red Carpet? Probably Improv Performers | Washingtonian (DC)". Washingtonian. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  21. Itkowitz, Colby (April 25, 2016). "The not-so-funny reason therapists are taking comedy classes". Washington Post. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  22. "History". Washington Improv Theater. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  23. "washington improv theater". Aparna Nancherla. Retrieved 2021-05-05.

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