Hens' Teeth

Hens' Teeth Women's Comedy Company first performed at Circa Theatre in Wellington pre-Xmas 1988. It broke box-office records at the theatre, and a second season at Taki Rua Theatre early in 1989 had similar success. The company went on to create several productions a year, for 13 years.

Though based in Wellington, New Zealand, the company toured throughout New Zealand, and in 1992 performed at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in Australia.^[1]

Hens' Teeth was created by Kate JasonSmith, who remained as the Producer throughout its existence.

The format was of a comic line-up which changed nightly, with some regulars and some "tryouts". It was held together by a compere or M.C. - the most famous being "Mother Chook" Leone Hatherly. The core cast of women included: Dame Kate Harcourt, Lorae Parry,^[2] Pinky Agnew, Helen Moulder, Carmel McGlone, Sue Dunlop, Sally Rodwell, Madeline McNamara, Rose Beauchamp, Prue Langbein, Bub Bridger, April Phillips, and Darien Takle.

Over 100 women performed with Hens' Teeth between 1987 and 2001, including 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, and Phylli JasonSmith.

The success of Hens' Teeth was attributed to the comedy being about 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, creativity, etc.,etc. The only major rule for the content of Hens' Teeth was that they didn't laugh at the expense of men, or of any other minorities.

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