Community hub
Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Hens' Teeth
Hens' Teeth Women's Comedy Company, also known as Hens' Teeth is a woman-only comedy troupe based in Wellington, New Zealand founded in 1988. As of 2025[update] it appears to be dormant.
After attending a women's comedy festival in Sydney Kate JasonSmith founded Hens' Teeth in time to debut just before Christmas in 1988. It was a success, breaking box-office records for Wellington's Circa Theatre. The company's name comes from the saying 'as rare as hens’ teeth' pointing to the scarcity of female comedians working professionally in New Zealand.
Between 1988 and 2001 Kate JasonSmith produced regular performances of Hens Teeth mostly in Wellington featuring over 100 women. Performers included: Ginette McDonald, Rima te Wiata, Emily Perkins, Cathy Sheat, Michelle Scullion, Ann Pacey, Riwia Brown, Ann Jones, Alison Wall, Pam Corkery, Perry Piercy, Nancy Fulford, Stephanie Creed, Vicki Walker, Donna Akersten, Jane Waddell, TV personality Chloe (Chloe Perovic), and Phylli JasonSmith. The core cast included Lee Hatherly, Dame Kate Harcourt, Lorae Parry, Pinky Agnew, Helen Moulder, Carmel McGlone, Sue Dunlop, Sally Rodwell, Madeline McNamara, Rose Beauchamp, Prue Langbein, Bub Bridger, April Phillips, and Darien Takle.
Each show was held together by a compere or M.C., with the most famous being "Mother Chook" (Lee Hatherly; full name, Leone Rosemary Lucille Hatherly). The usual format involved a comic line-up that changed nightly, with some regulars and some "tryouts." It has been described as "a variety show consisting of a series of comedy sketches" connected with the comediennes' identity as women. Hens' Teeth's success has been attributed to its focus on things that are part of the fabric of most women's lives: sex, politics, aging, cooking, ambition, breastfeeding, men, opera, housework, dieting, childcare, self-defense, love, money, contraception and creativity. The company's only major rule was that the performers' jokes should not come at the expense of men or other minorities.
The second season was called Hens' Teeth: The Second Bite at Taki Rua The Depot Theatre (Wellington) early in 1989 and had similar success to the first season.
In March 1990 Hens' Teeth was included in the biennial New Zealand International Festival of the Arts with the title Daughter of Hens’ Teeth with design by Debra Bustin and choreography by Jamie Bull; the performances were in the Illott Concert Chamber of the Wellington Town Hall; music was by Michelle Scullion and performers included Sandra McKay, Madeline McNamara, Helen Moulder, Lorae Parry, and Sally Rodwell.
The September 1991 Circa Theatre season, Hens' Teeth squawk this way: a season of women comedians included Lee Hatherly, Rose Beauchamp, Bub Bridger, Sue Dunlop, Madeline McNamara, Prue Langbein, Helen Moulder, Lorae Parry, and Dame Kate Harcourt. A group of performers may also have appeared on the night including Beryl Te Wiata, Sally Rodwell, Jane Waddell, and more.
The March 1996 Circa Theatre season, Hens' Teeth: Raw eggs and old boilers, featured Lee Hatherly, with Rose Beauchamp, Bub Bridger, Kate Harcourt, Lorae Parry, Madeline McNamara, Lindy Hatherly (Lee Hatherly's daughter, performing a fire-eating act), Sally Rodwell, Prue Langbein, Sue Dunlop, Marg Layton, Cathie Sheat, Pinky Agnew, April Phillips (then known as April Mardle), Carmel McGlone, Ann Pacey, and Dorothy McKegg. The group won the Chapman Tripp award for Female Comedian or Group of the Year in 1996.
Hub AI
Hens' Teeth AI simulator
(@Hens' Teeth_simulator)
Hens' Teeth
Hens' Teeth Women's Comedy Company, also known as Hens' Teeth is a woman-only comedy troupe based in Wellington, New Zealand founded in 1988. As of 2025[update] it appears to be dormant.
After attending a women's comedy festival in Sydney Kate JasonSmith founded Hens' Teeth in time to debut just before Christmas in 1988. It was a success, breaking box-office records for Wellington's Circa Theatre. The company's name comes from the saying 'as rare as hens’ teeth' pointing to the scarcity of female comedians working professionally in New Zealand.
Between 1988 and 2001 Kate JasonSmith produced regular performances of Hens Teeth mostly in Wellington featuring over 100 women. Performers included: Ginette McDonald, Rima te Wiata, Emily Perkins, Cathy Sheat, Michelle Scullion, Ann Pacey, Riwia Brown, Ann Jones, Alison Wall, Pam Corkery, Perry Piercy, Nancy Fulford, Stephanie Creed, Vicki Walker, Donna Akersten, Jane Waddell, TV personality Chloe (Chloe Perovic), and Phylli JasonSmith. The core cast included Lee Hatherly, Dame Kate Harcourt, Lorae Parry, Pinky Agnew, Helen Moulder, Carmel McGlone, Sue Dunlop, Sally Rodwell, Madeline McNamara, Rose Beauchamp, Prue Langbein, Bub Bridger, April Phillips, and Darien Takle.
Each show was held together by a compere or M.C., with the most famous being "Mother Chook" (Lee Hatherly; full name, Leone Rosemary Lucille Hatherly). The usual format involved a comic line-up that changed nightly, with some regulars and some "tryouts." It has been described as "a variety show consisting of a series of comedy sketches" connected with the comediennes' identity as women. Hens' Teeth's success has been attributed to its focus on things that are part of the fabric of most women's lives: sex, politics, aging, cooking, ambition, breastfeeding, men, opera, housework, dieting, childcare, self-defense, love, money, contraception and creativity. The company's only major rule was that the performers' jokes should not come at the expense of men or other minorities.
The second season was called Hens' Teeth: The Second Bite at Taki Rua The Depot Theatre (Wellington) early in 1989 and had similar success to the first season.
In March 1990 Hens' Teeth was included in the biennial New Zealand International Festival of the Arts with the title Daughter of Hens’ Teeth with design by Debra Bustin and choreography by Jamie Bull; the performances were in the Illott Concert Chamber of the Wellington Town Hall; music was by Michelle Scullion and performers included Sandra McKay, Madeline McNamara, Helen Moulder, Lorae Parry, and Sally Rodwell.
The September 1991 Circa Theatre season, Hens' Teeth squawk this way: a season of women comedians included Lee Hatherly, Rose Beauchamp, Bub Bridger, Sue Dunlop, Madeline McNamara, Prue Langbein, Helen Moulder, Lorae Parry, and Dame Kate Harcourt. A group of performers may also have appeared on the night including Beryl Te Wiata, Sally Rodwell, Jane Waddell, and more.
The March 1996 Circa Theatre season, Hens' Teeth: Raw eggs and old boilers, featured Lee Hatherly, with Rose Beauchamp, Bub Bridger, Kate Harcourt, Lorae Parry, Madeline McNamara, Lindy Hatherly (Lee Hatherly's daughter, performing a fire-eating act), Sally Rodwell, Prue Langbein, Sue Dunlop, Marg Layton, Cathie Sheat, Pinky Agnew, April Phillips (then known as April Mardle), Carmel McGlone, Ann Pacey, and Dorothy McKegg. The group won the Chapman Tripp award for Female Comedian or Group of the Year in 1996.