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A spectacular triple bill of the world’s best theatrical improvisers, supported by improvising actors from all over Australia. Watch one, two, or all three shows, on the one ticket.
7:30pm – Fruit Bat directed by Nick Harriott (AUS)
Blue Mountains musician and theatrical improviser, Nick Harriott, leads a cast built from his workshop at this festival that trained actors to collaborate vocally without being able to see each other. Predominantly performed in darkness, enjoy this unique experience in improvised theatre.
8:25pm – The Bunch directed by Inbal Lori (ISR)
One of the world’s most talented improvisers, Inbal Lori proves that large groups of improvising actors, on stage at the same time, can collaborate in high quality, entertaining, and cohesive scenes, without creating a mess. Only the cast who learned the secrets of this unlikely promise during Inbal’s multi-session workshop intensive, “All In”, could enlighten you as to how they do it.
9:20pm – Dictionary of Moments directed by Jason Geary (AUS)
This isn’t your ordinary dictionary. Here, you won’t find dry definitions — instead, every word unlocks a moment from a story that brings its meaning to life.
One of this festival’s most loved directors and stage performers, Melbourne’s Jason Geary, who you might recognize as a regular actor from TV’s Thank God You’re Here, is known as a master of narrative, and in his festival offering, this year, he takes a deep dive, along with a cast drawn from workshoppers and the festival ensemble, to explode individual moments and give them their full worth.
Phew! This triple bill is like a whole festival in one night….., but have a look and see what Canberra International Festival has on Thursday….., and Saturday…., and Sunday, right here at REP, (or Wednesday’s incredible Improvision Song Contest at Canberra Playhouse, or any night late at Smith’s Alternative)

Venue: Canberra REP Theatre

Date: 12 Dec - 12 Dec 2025

It’s nearly Christmas and this is a ‘feel good’ triple bill of the world’s best theatrical improvisers, supported by improvising actors from all over Australia engaging in a magical group hug. Watch one, two, or all three shows, on the one ticket.
7:30pm - The Blob by Jhi Rayner (AUS)
Returning to direct again, after wide acclaim for his 2023 production TOME at Canberra International Improv Festival, Jhi Rayner brings Artaud-inspired theatre to the world of improvisation, using actor-generated walls of soundscape that morph into physical tableaus that themselves inspire scenes that are verbally painted for the ensemble. Feel the surreals in this emotionally-driven, relationship-focussed theatre that will take you on a rollercoaster ride of laughter to drama to visual and auditory delight, and land you safely back in your seat.
8:25pm – This Scene Was About directed by Tim Orr (USA)
One of the most internationally inspired show formats of the festival, this concept was created by Milanese improviser Fabio Maccioni, when he was a guest in Colombia, and now directed in Australia by and American, who is one of the most talked about improv instructors on the planet. And it’s going to be so nice, because it’s cast from his intensive workshop this week, where students learned, “emotional mirroring” and “reading scenes as a gift” whilst playing “characters who actually like each other”.
9:20pm – A Bouffon Christmas directed Daniel Orrantia Gomez (COL)
In possibly the most anticipated show of this festival, you will laugh yourself senseless and sometimes be aghast at the incredibly exaggerated theatrical style of Bouffon, from a physical theatre/clown master we’ve been trying to get to this event for years! See what happens to the comparative Christmas traditions of both Colombia and Australia, as Daniel and his ensemble cast transform it into something you never imagined either theatre or Christmas could ever be like.
Is it Christmas yet?! This triple bill is like a whole festival in one night….., but have a look and see what Canberra International Festival has on Thursday….., and Friday…., and Sunday, right here at REP, (or Wednesday’s incredible Improvision Song Contest at Canberra Playhouse, or any night late at Smith’s Alternative)

Venue: Canberra REP Theatre

Date: 13 Dec - 13 Dec 2025

A double bill of unmatched entertainment value, as the closing performances of Canberra International Improv Festival (aka Improvention) for 2025.
7:30pm – All At Once directed by Nick Byrne (Canberra)
A big cast version to suit closing night of this intriguing show concept that asks, “What if we could watch everyone who ever lived in your apartment over time, living their stories simultaneously, though in different dimensions, and invisible to each other?”. See the actors manage their use of the space when someone invisible stands between them and their lovers, or when they wish they could sit down on an already invisibly occupied lounge. Real relationships in a super-fun multidimensional melting pot. This festival’s Artistic Director thanks you with his most recent popular show format success performed in six nations in 2024 alone.
8:30pm -The Canberra Impro Challenge Grand Finale by the Festival Ensemble (Global)
They’ve been at it all week, in the Heats of our traditional sell-out closing performance of the Festival, 20 years old, this year! Those who have progressed to the Finale play hilarious comedy and theatre games. Only the best comedic improvisers from every state of Australia and 5 continents, compete to hold aloft the famous Speaking Staff trophy that proclaims the champion of this signature event. Cheer on Canberra’s bravest actors, playing right alongside the international and interstate gurus of this style of theatre - people they never even imagined meeting! You decide the scores for each side-splitting game and scene, so get loud and proud, and laugh every minute!
You’ll be in such a state after this one, you’ll need to wait 12 months before possibly laughing again.
It’s farewell from Canberra International Improv Festival for 2025, unless you drop over to Smith’s and try to sneak in to our all night closing karaoke party. This double bill is like a whole festival in one night….., but if you are seeing this ahead of time, have a look and see what Canberra International Festival has on Thursday….., and Friday…., and Saturday, right here at REP, (or Wednesday’s incredible Improvision Song Contest at Canberra Playhouse, or any night late at Smith’s Alternative)

Venue: Canberra REP Theatre

Date: 14 Dec - 14 Dec 2025

One night, four couples, three bedrooms.
Come along for the ride as we climb over and into sleeping spaces, view, sympathise and laugh about family dynamics and the conflicts which can arise both within and outside relationships.
An evening when what you expect to happen in the bedroom, never happens.

Venue: Canberra REP Theatre

Date: 19 Feb - 7 Mar 2026

Richly complex.
Play with us as we reveal a clever game of passion and manipulation, seduction and destruction in the time of the ancien régime - rich with sumptuous costuming, secrets and desire.

Venue: Canberra REP Theatre

Date: 23 Apr - 9 May 2026

Love at a time of change.

Travel to more than just a tree change place, where relationships, love, aging and family are key to this timeless Australian play.
Frank and Frances find new life in a twilight love affair, to the consternation of their conventional children. Their dream takes them north to the sun; but no sooner do they find their idyll than signs of mortality betray Frank’s lion spirit.
A moving homage to age and the old radicals who changed the course of Australian history.

Venue: Canberra REP Theatre

Date: 11 Jun - 27 Jun 2026

Reflections on family and loss
Tennessee Williams’s celebrated autobiographical play – a drama of great tenderness, charm and beauty – is a moving portrait of a troubled American family led by a determined but delusional mother.

Venue: Canberra REP Theatre

Date: 23 Jul - 8 Aug 2026

A night to remember
Meet Daisy Meredith, the first scholarship student at the elite Grangewood School for Young Ladies. Not St Trinians, though you could be forgiven for thinking so!
Complete with practical jokes, snobbery, hockey and a mystery to solve – a parody of a true ‘Girls Own’ adventure.

Venue: Canberra REP Theatre

Date: 10 Sep - 26 Sep 2026

Perfect for audiences of all blood types.
How many pop-culture references can you use in a play? The number is endless.
Imagine Bram Stoker's legendary vampire tale mixed with Mel Brooks, Monty Python, and The 39 Steps, and you get a lightning-fast, laugh-out-loud, 90-minute, gender-bending romp.
When her sister Mina falls ill with a mysterious disease of the blood, Lucy Westfeldt and her fiancé, Jonathan Harker, enlist the help of famed female vampire hunter Doctor Jean Van Helsing. Their hunt for the dangerous and sexy Count Dracula abounds with clever wordplay and quick-change antics. A blood-curdlingly hilarious send-up of the literary classic.

Venue: Canberra REP Theatre

Date: 19 Nov - 5 Dec 2026