Christchurch’s newest comedic talents do battle

Christchurch’s newest comedic talents do battle at The Court Theatre

St Thomas of Canterbury have won the title of “Christchurch’s fastest and funniest” in the Theatresports in Schools Junior Finals, held last Sunday at the Court Theatre. The winning team beat fifteen other high school teams, proving their worth in the three rounds of competition with an improvised story, narrated in turns by the players, a live radio play and finishing with a comically poignant scene about an absent mother.

From the 16 schools entered, six four-to-five-person teams competed in the final, with St Margaret’s College taking third place and Cashmere High School second place in a close and exciting competition.

Theatresports is competitive performance where teams of four performers create short scenes based on audience suggestions, combining acting skills with quick-thinking. The result is a uniquely entertaining theatrical experience. 2008’s competition was “one of the best years we’ve had yet” according to Jeff Clark from the Court Theatre, who organised the popular competition.

Theatresports in Schools is a long-established cultural competition enjoying almost two decades in Christchurch and many of The Court Jesters (The Court Theatre’s improvisation troupe who perform Scared Scriptless every Friday night) began their professional careers through the school competition. Clark encourages audiences to keep an eye out for the performers they see at the finals -“for many of them, this is only the beginning”.

The Court Theatre hosts two official Theatresports competitions every year, drawing high schools together in competition. Senior teams compete in the third school term and junior teams in the fourth term.

ENDS

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