The Vancouver TheatreSports League (VTSL) is prepping to move to a new theatre space on Granville Island. The company, which has been performing on the Arts Club's New Revue Stage since 1997, is taking its improv comedy shows to the waterfront Marine Building at 1506 Duranleau Street.

"Our lease with the Arts Club was over so we were in a position of having to find a new home," Jay Ono, the executive director of Vancouver TheatreSports, told the Straight. "This opportunity just came up at the very last minute."

TheatreSports takes possession of the space for the new 180-seat theatre on December 1, 2009, and hopes to have it audience-ready in time for the 2010 Olympics in February. Proscenium Architecture is currently developing plans for the space, which will feature a mix of seating, including intimate cabaret-style seating and benches. "We're trying to make this space really kind of exceptional, a different type of experience than traditional style seating," said Ono.

Ono is excited that the league was able to remain on Granville Island. "We started performing on Granville Island in the late '80s”¦and then started there fulltime in 1996," Ono said. "To be able to stay on Granville Island for us is a huge feat since our audience is used to coming there. And we love the island!"

The VTSL, which turns 30 in 2010, performs 10 shows per week over four nights and draws 50,000 audience members each year.

The New Revue Stage is also scheduled for a renovation and the Arts Club will reopen it in the spring with shows like Anosh Irani’s dark comedy My Granny the Goldfish, scheduled for April 15 to May 15, 2010.

With files from Janet Smith.

Follow Miranda Nelson on Twitter @charenton_.