Lori Dungey’s spare office is packed solid with hula hoops, tinsel, boxes overflowing with coloured paper and scraps of costumes, and a giant cow’s head.

“Oh that,” says Dungey of the cow’s head “was part of a team building exercise for Telecom.  The staff put on a show it was amazing…some staff made great handymen, others did costumes.

” Cow’s heads, hula hoops, and Telecom executives slaving over a hot sewing machine, are all part of a day in the office of Dungey and fellow performers at Conartists.

“Our organisation was created by actors to provide employment to other actors.  That’s our mandate,” she told equity.  Originally Dungey came to New Zealand from Vancouver to work on Theatresports.  (“I’d had the experience, and we were the only co-op that paid Equity rates or better in Vancouver then!” she adds.)  What started out as a license to run Theatresports has morphed into a business with a firm foothold in the corporate entertainment market.

“When we were doing Theatresports, people started to ask us to do parts of it at company functions,” she explains.  “As we got more canny we realised that what we really needed to do was improvise, to get more information from the company and then tailor make it to their audience.” Since then, corporate gigs fashioned around detectives, sporting coaches, superheros and being married to the mob, have followed.  “We started out in groups of five now we work in groups of two or three. 

We’re a lean, mean improv machine!” Dungey says with a laugh.  “If we’ve done our job well, people will sit and chat, we’re icebreakers…we are the champion of the office wallflower.  “It’s part straight-out entertainment, part team-building and part theatreworkshop,” she explains.  “We’re getting more into the facilitation of conferences…our point of difference is that we do it in character. 

“We could be a coach, so we’ll blow whistles, order them to wake up and soon they’re all calling you ‘coach this’ and ‘coach that’ and they totally buy into it.  “Or we might be tea ladies…we stay in character to serve them tea through their tea-break and soon they’d do anything we said…It is pretty hysterical, people just love to laugh…Everyone knows we are completely unreal, so they feel free to play.  “But actually we can move a group faster, and all the while we are keeping the convention to time, are liaising with the venue and being a bit of a stage manager. 

The world of corporate entertainment has long been a lucrative area for those speakers and performers who could access it.  It is also an increasingly congested world as more entertainers struggle to gain a foothold.  However, Dungey’s bespoke approach to each of the companies she entertains has enabled her to make money out of her craft and build a career within NZ’s corporate world. 

“Hey we’re a cheaper alternative than a sporting star,” she explains.  “We provide value to them, a service.  “It’s a business world, so we don’t charge theatre prices we charge corporate prices.  And when we tour we do what they do – we don’t share rooms if they don’t!” Members of the group still have the opportunity to sign in and out for other projects and other actors take their place.  The group also still does an improv show once a week.  “All of us just get up and do what we want…we don’t make any money, but it doesn’t really cost us anything.  It is very silly but fun and it’s a good way for clients to see what we do.”

Dungey’s improv skills have sometimes saved the day.  She recalls a Lord of the Rings convention in Germany (she had a small part in the director’s cut of the film) where she found herself sharing the stage with other featured performers.  She recalls their look of horror when they realised they had 50 minutes to fill.  But Dungey was soon working the crowd. 

“I had two audience members who sat on the side of the stage the entire time as hobbits eating, because hobbits like to eat,” she says.  “There were six others who we taught how to dance like hobbits.” When equity spoke to Dungey she was about to do a function for a company that was celebrating its 40th anniversary with a film screening.  “Before the screening we’ll be greeting the guests in character, we’ll be wearing zoot suits and recruiting for a “superhero foundation”. 

We’ll hand out questionnaires to ascertain what superhero skills they may or may not have.  There is never really a question [from the guests] of ‘are they for real or not’!” Soon after she’ll be getting into character as an Italian Nonna, to help a large NZ dairy celebrate with a Married to the Mob theme. 

“We help people make connections...sort of what theatre should do on stage.”