The Improv Centre Launches East Van Schools Improv Project for Youth
Managing Director Jessica Gutteridge champions the program, bringing improv education to East Vancouver secondary schools.
The Improv Centre has announced the launch of their new educational program, The East Van Schools Improv Project.
An anchor cultural venue on Granville Island since 2010, The Improv Centre was founded to promote, develop, and present improvisational theatre for local and visiting audiences. The Improv Centre performs six nights per week to annual audiences exceeding 45,000 and offers a comprehensive education program serving beginners through advanced improvisors.
The East Van Schools Improv Project, championed by The Improv Centre's Managing Director, Jessica Gutteridge, was created in order to bring high-quality improvisational theatre education directly to East Vancouver secondary schools that face persistent gaps in performing arts resources.
Through this program, pairs of artist-educators selected from the ensemble at The Improv Centre, conduct 90-minute after-school classes on site: offering students a 10-week progressive improvisational theatre curriculum, teaching the foundational skills of improv in a fun and creative environment with the aim of boosting confidence, creativity, teamwork, and communication skills – all proven benefits of improv theatre training, and benefits widely recognized as central to youth development.
The program culminates in a professionally produced showcase at The Improv Centre's 186-seat theatre, where students take the stage for family and friends, followed by a reception to celebrate the participants' achievements. Students are also invited to attend a performance at The Improv Centre to observe professional improvisors – including their own instructors – in action and experience the theatre together as a cohort through a dedicated field trip.
The Improv Centre successfully piloted this program during the 2024-25 school year with 120 students in standalone sessions at Killarney Secondary School, Gladstone Secondary School, David Thompson Secondary School and Britannia Secondary School, as well as an expanded pilot over six weeks in spring 2025. This pilot was enthusiastically received by the impacted teachers and students.
“As someone who has long been devoted to sharing the joy of live theatre with young people, I was thrilled to fully develop The East Van Schools Improv Project during my first year at The Improv Centre,” says Gutteridge.
“With the critical support of the Y.P. Heung Foundation and the City of Vancouver Cultural Grants program, we are helping to create the next generation of theatre artists and improvisors in our city, sustaining our art form. But even more importantly, we are bringing opportunities for teamwork, skills development, confidence-building, and lots of joy to the youth in our community through this program.”
The 2025-2026 program, which includes Vancouver Technical Secondary School, Gladstone Secondary School and David Thompson Secondary School, is currently underway and will conclude with a showcase for students' families, friends, and peers at The Improv Centre on Saturday, May 30, 2026.
To support The East Van Schools Improv Project, please visit www.theimprovcentre.ca/support.
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