1990s
During the rest of the 1990s the Jesters expanded their repertoire with corporate entertainment and teaching improv/theatresports to high schools (as part of the "Theatresports in Schools" programme) and community improvisation classes. The Jesters also had considerable success with dinner theatre including a show at Mona Vale called The Wedding.
In 1994 The Court Jesters sent a team of improvisors to the World Theatresports Championships in Los Angeles. Teams from the UK, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Denmark, America, New Zealand, The Netherlands and other countries competed. New Zealand's team, comprising Simon Peacock, Cal Wilson, Susan Fogarty and Greg Cooper, won the competition.
The late 90s saw the company push the boundaries of improvisational practice through script-based improv works such as I Spy, The X-Philes, Blood, and Doctor Pussy Finger Says No To Tomorrow. The company's first fully scripted work was The Complete History of New Zealand (Abridged), first presented in Christchurch in 1998. Their only other fully scripted play was A Fistful of Dolores which premièred in 2002. The Complete History of New Zealand (Abridged) continues to be presented throughout the country, most recently back in Christchurch in 2008 as part of the Summertimes festival, and produced by The Outwits (see 2000s section). The company also pioneered a school holiday theatre programme using tight casts of three to four actors and scripts that could effectively use the main stage sets for daytime performances. The Court Theatre continues to use this production model for holiday performances.
Alongside the newfound confidence with scripted and part-scripted work, The Court Jesters continued to explore pure improv. The 1997 season of Abandon Script used an approach that saw a full 90-minute show generated from a single word offered by the audience.
Read more about this topic: Court Jesters, History