History of BATS Improv
BATS Improv traces its origins back to Professor Keith Johnstone, one of the few internationally recognized authorities on improvisational theatre.
During his tenure at the London Royal Court Theatre in the 1950s and 60s, Johnstone developed a series of improvisational exercises to help playwrights overcome writer's block by short-circuiting the natural tendency to edit themselves.
After moving to Canada in the 1970s, Johnstone developed the "Theatresports" format, in which two teams of improvisers compete against one another for points.
Over the next few years, performers from around the world discovered Theatresports and formed their own companies dedicated to the format. One such company was Seattle Theatresports (now "Unexpected Productions"), founded in 1983 as the first U.S. company to perform the format...and this is where the real story of BATS begins!
Seattle to San Francisco: A BATS Timeline
November 1986: A San Francisco comedy theatre group, Fratelli Bologna, invites Rebecca Stockley, a teacher from Seattle Theatresports, to lead a workshop and teach the Theatresports format.
November 10, 1986: Stockley's workshop culminates in a sold-out performance at the Zephyr Theater (now the New Conservatory Theatre). Several actors in the audience that night will later join BATS founding members to form BATS' first company of improvisers. (Click here for a list of past performers in BATS' Main Stage Company.)
1987: Bay Area Theatresports forms its first performing company and begins offering classes. The company performs in spaces throughout San Francisco: the New Performance Gallery, the New Conservatory Theatre, The Asian American Theater, 450 Geary and the Bayfront Theater, among others. Driven by a love of good, fully-developed stories and characters, BATS soon begins doing its own Long-Form shows in addition to Theatresports matches.
1988: BATS begins renting space at the Army Street Studios, which is its home for several years. BATS alumni found Los Angeles Theatresports (now Impro Theatre).
1990-92: BATS hosts International Theatresports Tournaments at the Magic Theater, drawing improvisers from around the globe.
1991: BATS begins offering regular workshops to the general public. Students from BATS' workshops begin performing at the Phoenix Theater.
1994: BATS offers its first summer school session in conjunction with Stanford University, featuring a residency with Keith Johnstone. The BATS summer session becomes an annual tradition and today draws students from as far away as Australia, Europe and Japan.
1997: BATS takes up permanent residency at the Bayfront Theater in the historic Fort Mason Center and experiences tremendous growth. The Company adds more classes and workshops, and expands its performance schedule to three shows a week.
1998: BATS begins its Laughing Stock program, offering free improvisation classes to people living with chronic, life-threatening illnesses, such as HIV, AIDS and cancer, and to their partners and caregivers. BATS is also voted "Best Improv Company" for the first time, in the in the SF Bay Guardian's annual Best of the Bay poll. 13 more "Best of" honors from the Guardian, the SF Weekly, 7x7 Magazine, San Francisco Magazine, and the San Francisco Chronicle follow over the next 11 years.
2001-02, 2005: BATS creates one of the nation’s finest performance settings devoted exclusively to improv theatre through a series of fundraising campaigns and capital improvement projects. A completely renovated Bayfront Theater includes new lobby and concession areas, new seats and a new wheelchair-accessible stage.
2009: BATS Improv continues to be the Bay Area's premier improvisational performing company and improv training program, attracting more than 11,000 audience members and 1,300 workshop enrollments every year.