The Riddle of Washpool Gully

Presented by Terrapin Puppet Theatre in association with Dead Puppet Society

Written and directed by David Morton

Review by Anica Boulanger-Mashberg

‘The only way to get to Washpool’ says the storyteller, ‘is to take the wrong road, without knowing it.’

Unless you go to the theatre to find it. Which you definitely should – whether or not you have small persons in tow.

A young boy and his mother arrive in Washpool hoping to escape the small ghosts of their own past, but are instead confronted by their present and the way forward. Against this light cautionary tale of family dynamics builds the bigger mystery of the ‘monster’ said to inhabit the gully and terrorise the tiny town. What follows is an unexpected relationship with this ‘monster’.

Sneak Preview

Red Racing Hood

Red Racing Hood

Terrapin Puppet Theatre

Backspace Theatre, Hobart .

September 16^th 2015.

Reviewed by Gai Anderson

There was a palpable excitement in the Backspace on Saturday afternoon as I took my seat amongst the groups of primary school aged children and their parents for the latest show from Terrapin Puppet Theatre - Red Racing Hood. Some it seemed were back for a second time! It was great listening to the thrill in their voices as they discussed how the complex action we were apparently about to see, could possibly have been animated by just 3 puppeteers on the curious retro-looking domestic set waiting in front of us.

Written by Sean Monro and directed By Sam Routledge, Red racing Hood is a simple story writ-large, about a girl called Red and her Gran. Quite cartoon like in feel, with miniature racetrack and a heightened performance style, it uses the archetype of the dangerous wolf in the woods as a foreboding threat hanging over their small country town of Grinalong. The twist is that Gran and the young Red are racing car enthusiasts, and their lives are soon turned upside down by the arrival of a new mayor with big ideas for the restaging of the Grinalong Classic car race.

Reliant on design as much as story and character, the quirky, cleverly designed set allows the 3 talented performer/puppeteers to inhabit and animate this action-packed show as it jumps between scales and atmospheres, between racing action and domestic drama. And so, the domestic scene of Red and Nans home cleverly transforms to become a miniaturized 3 D model of the town, complete with racing track and dangerous woods. And their breadbox becomes the garage for Nans tiny model retro racing car and the toaster becomes the town hall. A tracking video camera and large screen allow the audience to jump between scales, for close ups of the racing action as Red transforms to become the driver of Grans tiny racing car.

The performances of Maeve Mhairi McGregor as the vivacious young Red and Thomas Pidd as the vaudevillian-like Mayor (and dorky policemen) drive the fun and action- filled parts of the show, with their heightened energy and clownish verve in synch with the shows cartoonish style. The more realistic style of Grans character in contrast seemed lack lustre at times and I wondered about this choice. The potential of the central human drama is also less developed than the action which left the story a bit thin for me.

But it is hard sometimes as an adult to appreciate a child’s-eye view of theatre such as this. So as I sat there wanting the beautifully animated wolf to be bigger and to actually scare me, the screams of fear and delight from the front row of the children as it got closer to them, quickly changed my opinion on that.

Overall this is a great children’s show, perhaps perfectly pitched for a primary school audience, and the audience I sat amongst certainly loved it.

BIG BABY

Terrapin Puppet Theatre

Playing at the Theatre Royal Hobart

By Gai Anderson

Big Baby the latest show from Terrapin Puppet Theatre, is an evocative multilayered piece of puppetry and visual theatre created for children and families. Directed by Sam Routledge and written by Van Badham, the show explores notions of vulnerability and power through the journey of the Big Baby and his father.

PIP and POOCH

Terrapin Puppet Theatre 

Theatre Royal Hobart 

Wednesday July 10th

Gai Anderson

Pip and Pooch, the fun new primary schools touring show from Terrapin Puppet Theatre, is a wonderful child’s-view story about friendships and man’s – or, in this case, girl’s – best friend. For Pip, life is not easy as she negotiates the difficulties thrown up by a bizarre array of family and foe as her birthday party approaches. But when Pooch arrives things begin to improve.

The energetic engagement of actors Bryony Geeves (Pip) and Matt Wilson (Pooch) had the children in the audience enthralled and laughing right from the start, with their clever silliness, heartfelt real-life reflections and crazy puppet characters. I particularly loved the two-dimensional cut-out puppets with their simple choreography of arms and legs, and smiling / frowning magnetised faces which were removed like layers to reveal their changing emotions. It’s amazing how engaging a talking puppet without a moving mouth can be!

Expertly designed and realised, this visually beautiful show has a quirky aesthetic which 

seamlessly combines the two- and three-dimensional worlds of photorealism, live characters and magazine cutout animation, to create a somewhat surreal yet warmly familiar visual world. The horizontally layered set skillfully allows for the various perspectives and elements of the story to blend smoothly on stage, moving from mini street scape with characters at front, through Pip’s cut-out full-scale girly bedroom, to a projected streetscape at back of the mini set at the front ( as well as doubling as an animation screen). Its quite a treat to see.

This technically complex show is full of delights and enormously engaging.
Terrapin’s new Artistic Director Sam Routledge has managed to strike a beautiful balance between the multimedia gadgetry, live action and much wonder-filled puppetry .
I look forward to seeing more of his shows. 

SHADOW DREAMS

By Gai Anderson

Terrapin Puppet Theatre and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

Seen as part of Ten Days on the Island Festival, 2013.

The Recital Hall, Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, Hobart .

Theatre at its best is transportative – it takes you to places outside your self – where you suspend your disbelief and begin to take part in the alchemy that is happening before you on stage.

Some time its the trickery and spectacle that does this, sometimes it’s the quirky humor, the depth of story, the uplifting beauty of the music, the emotional life of the characters, the simplicity and wisdom of the message. But sometimes you are privileged enough to witness a show that does all those things and more.

Shadow Dreams is a technical and artistic triumph by any standards - a superbly crafted, simple, heart-felt story, beautifully told, of two boys who begin to dream each other’s dreams. It is a colaboration between Terrapin Puppet Theatre and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, performing the very beautiful uplifting music of Graeme Koehn live.

The show is staged simultaneously in two theatres at the two ends of the state using broadband to stream the live orchestra and vision.

So on the stage in Hobart I could see a screen divided in half, before which the story of Peter, a suburban white boy living with his Mum and gran is enacted live.

On the other half of the screen is the Aboriginal boy Dale with his father and sister in their house on a farm near Launceston. This was a projection streaming live from the Launceston stage, where they were performing.

But that’s not all, the trickery went much further than this as layers of animation, detailed landscape captured in stunning painted backdrops and atmospheric shadow puppetry and other live puppetry elements were layered to continuously transform the visual story with incredible beauty.

There was an awful lot going on on-stage sometimes, which may have been easier to take in in a larger theatre. But that didn’t stop me from being totally engaged from start to finish with the beauty and significance of the story.

The boys themselves were a delight, played by actors Kai Resbeck and first time Aboriginal performer Nathan Maynard. As we watched their days at school and at home we met two funny characters with the quirky details of their lives, and where they live, of Bridgewater Jerry, Seven Mile Beach and Dove lake.

But this story is not just about the boys – it’s a story about the wisdom of the generations who have been here before and the shared dreaming for a communal future. For what they dream together is not just any story, but the Palawa story of the creation of Tasmania and its sacred landscapes.

Eventually it led them to each other when they met with the families at Dove Lake, and amongst the elders and the wisdom of culture, they ran and laughed together, dreaming of that communal future.

This is a very important story; a moment of reconciliation, albeit on stage. It is certainly the first time I have seen the reenactment of the Palawa story in such a public forum and it brought a tear to my eyes. Let’s hope every Tasmanian gets to see this show in all its heart felt beauty.

Thanks to the generosity of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Community, to the ever inspiring talents of Frank Newman and Finegan Kruckemeyer and to the huge caste and crew of Terrapin who worked together to make this incredible show happen.

Sleeping Horses Lie

By Gai Anderson
Terrapin Puppet Theatre
Theatre Royal Hobart

Sleeping Horses Lie is Terrapin Puppet Theatres’ new school show, directed by Frank Newman and written by Maxine Mellor. An action-packed delight, this quirkily told tale, tells of the young girl Sally Saber, whose greatest desire is to be strong and brave like a tiger. But there is nothing to fear in Sally's house until late one night when her fantasy world begins to come to life.

Told in classic story-book fashion, but with generous lashings of pantomime, clown, slapstick, character puppetry and digital animation, the performers Bryony Geeves and Kai Raisbeck, as brother and sister Wilbur and Wilma, tell this complex but rollicking  tale with great vigor. Punctuated by moments of heightened physical theatre and delightful song the show is visually complex, with the feel of an old world nursery rhyme come-alive.