About Us

PROTEA Impro began life as The Practitioners of the Ephemeral Arts. A title given to the group of performers that were assembled by Rowan Harris for The Burning Desire Festival in November 2020. The name was then used again for the collective of performers involved in the first Hobart’s Festival of Improvised Theatre in March 2022. 

Following the success of the festival. Harris and longtime collaborator Matt Wilson expressed an interest in continuing the groundwork started by the festival and the seeds were planted for forming a company for ongoing work. 

That first year the newly abbreviated PROTEA Impro performed a season of monthly Theatresports™️ and appearances at one act play festivals with improvised Jane Austen and Sherlock Holmes. 

In November of 2022, Wilson took the PROTEA Impro flagship show Our Place to the Brisbane Improv Festival and the first connections between interstate and overseas companies were formed. 

In 2023, PROTEA Impro became an incorporated association. A committee was established to deal with the day to day runnings of the company and Harris and Wilson were named as the joint Artistic Directors of the company. 

2023 also saw the company perform at the Auckland Improv Festival in its first overseas trip.

Theatresports™️ continued and more emphasis was placed on long form narrative shows and workshops for up and coming improvisers. 

In 2024, Intro to Impro saw the start of ongoing classes aimed at seeking out and training a new crop of improvisers. With the classes becoming a way of giving performers a pathway to performance. Grow the Impro became the catchphrase for the company’s desire to create a strong and successful improvised theatre scene in Tasmania. 

PROTEA Impro continues to foster the growing improvised theatre scene. Featuring workshops and shows with visiting interstate and overseas artists and ongoing training classes. 

With a schedule containing regular Theatresports™️ and a range of long form narrative theatre shows the company aims to show that Impro is not just a sketch show but a rich and varied art form.