The COME OUT Festival is Australia's premier festival of contemporary art, performance and creativity for children and young people and the largest event of its kind in the world.

In 2011 COME OUT is presenting a program packed full of every genre. From theatre to visual arts, literature to dance, the Festival will present over 130 performances, workshops, events, public art and visual arts exhibitions in over 35 venues across Adelaide and regional South Australia.

This is a Festival for everyone – schools and families. The Festival will run from 25 March to 1 April, capturing imaginations everywhere and enabling participation from across the state.

Meet the COME OUT creative beasts – the beasts of doing, viewing and thinking. They’ve arrived to help us celebrate the Festival. There’s a creative beast in all of us – let yours COME OUT!

SUITABLE FOR: Children and families 0 – 16 years

A new Aboriginal play with songs and puppetry. Using the language and rhyme of the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin, Wulamanayuwi tells the story of a young girl and her experiences with the spirit-beings of a mystical, dreamtime land.

In the tradition of the Grimms Brothers tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Wulamanayuwi, daughter of the Rainbow Serpent totem, runs away from her evil stepmother into a land of water spirits, dingoes, wallabies and frogs. Guided by a white cockatoo, Wulamanayuwi meets the seven Pamanui (spirit-beings) who, in a quest to seek revenge and justice, will lead her back home via a path of myth and magic, disaster and adventure.

Told through story and song and narrated by Jarparra, the Moon Man, this new play mixes the enchanting tradition of European fairytales with the Palaneri or Dreaming characters and stories of the Tiwi Islands.

Commissioned and produced by Darwin Festival.

Join the ACO2 for a journey through baroque Italy, romantic Russia, contemporary Australia and sultry Argentina.

This concert will reveal the magic of the string orchestra in a performance by members of the world-renowned Australian Chamber Orchestra and Australia’s best young musicians. They will be led by international artist, Lara St. John, described as “a phenomenon” by The Strad.

Students will be expertly guided through each musical period while learning about the instruments that make up the string orchestra. At the end they will have the opportunity to ask questions of their favourite musician.

Alex Frayne is an award-winning South Australian film maker and photographer. He has had a long fascination with ‘night-scapes’ that exist in Adelaide and on the FleurieuPeninsula.
South Australia’s population is not dense – a fact borne by the number of people (about 1.2 million) compared to the massive size of the state. At night, even in its capital city one gets a sense of hauntedness. In playgrounds, on roadsides and in suburban streets, the feeling lingers...
This series of photographs capture the solitude and affection the artist has with the state.

The seas have risen, billions have died and those who are left live on farms atop skyscrapers, atop mountains. The scientists have tried everything. Floating islands sank, space probes found nothing, and the giant sponges visible from the moon are now rotting icons of failure.

Now science and humanity are turning to the oceans themselves. A last-ditch effort to save the human race requires journeying down through the mysterious depths of the deep blue sea to find a new place for us to live. Alvin Sputnik, who has just lost his wife, accepts this perilous mission so that he may follow her soul down to the underworld, so they can be together again once more.

The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer is an award-winning one-man micro-epic puppet show that melds technology and multimedia into a touching story of enduring love and the end of the world. This visually inspired solo show employs a unique blend of mime, puppetry, live and recorded music, and animation to present an exploration of the next and oldest frontier:the deep blue sea.

Created and performed by Tim Watts.
 

The Rundle Lantern is a giant 100% solar powered digital art display. Located on the corner of Rundle and Pulteney Street in Adelaide, the Rundle Lantern is made up of hundreds of computer-controlled energy efficient LED lights, which are programmed to display different colours, designs and patterns. It is powered entirely by energy generated from solar panels installed by Adelaide City Council in partnership with the Australian Government through the Adelaide Solar City Project.

Adelaide City Council and COME OUT Festival 2011 are inviting students to explore the Festival theme of belonging by creating simple animations for the Rundle Lantern to be screened as part of the Festival.

Students will have the opportunity to explore their hopes and dreams for being part of a greener future – how do they imagine a green world, city or community in 100 years time?

Join us on the banks of the River Torrens at the Adelaide Festival Centre for two days of workshops, random fun and free performances on the BankSA Stage.

This is an event designed especially for families with easy access, pram parking and baby change room. Bring a hat and some sunscreen and enjoy stretching out by the river, indulging in supreme family time. Make sure you all get involved – mum and dad, don’t stand back…be part of the action!

Enjoy workshops presented by Cirkidz and Little Picassos, as well as free performances by Urban Myth Theatre of Youth, Riverland Youth Theatre, Migrant Resource Centre, The Advertiser Little Big Book Club and much, much more!

Workshops
Cirkidz – In this hands-on workshop you will get a wee taste of life in the circus!
Little Picassos – Create your own collage creative beast on a canvas and take it home to display

Blak Nite 2011 will explode with artistic and creative energy presenting young South Australian Nungas in contemporary and traditional repertoires.

Blak Nite is South Australia’s premier Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth arts and cultural event. Building on COME OUT’s theme of belonging, the Blak Nite creative team have used the words “i am”, to reflect their strong sense of belonging to their family and community while living in a contemporary digital era.

Entry is by gold coin donation. Bookings not required.

Flinders University City Gallery presents two exhibitions. Kylie Dunstan’s award-winning illustrations from her book Collecting Colour tell the story of Rose and Olive who live in the Top End of Australia and learn to make pandanus baskets.
Developed by Louise Hamby and the Gapuwiyak Communityin partnership with the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Women with Clever Hands features stunning woven works from northeast Arnhem Land.

Visit Flinders University City Gallery at the State Library of South Australia for a guided tour of both exhibitions and a reading of the book Collecting Colour.
 

Every morning Diabolica Jones gets up, stretches his legs, does a little dance and goes to work. Every day is exactly the same...until he is invited to take on a new challenge every day. Teacher, wrestler, accountant, rock star…what will he try next? Join us as Diabolica Jones tries new things, takes incredible risks and finds new adventures around every corner.

Diabolica Jones is about leaving your comfort zone. It encourages taking risks and trying new things — even if it means sometimes making mistakes.

Written and directed by Anna Held.

Dinosaur Petting Zoo is a unique puppet show featuring awesome prehistoric creatures, from cute baby dinos to teeth-gnashing giants. Ancient life-like dinosaurs are alive and friendly in this fun, educational and unique performance event that will delight children of all ages.

Meet a menagerie of insects, mammals and dinosaurs that once roamed free around the southern hemisphere, and are now in residence at the petting zoo daily. You can pet, feed and interact with them in this once in a lifetime imaginative experience.

Dogs Lifeis a delightful exhibition of hand coloured prints that provide a humorous glimpse into the life of Canteen Creek’s camp dogs and other animal characters.
Dion Beasley is a nineteen year old Aboriginal artist who, through his work explores the themes of home and homecoming, camp life and systems of relationship and hierarchies. His astute observations display a wit and understanding of the dynamics at work within Dion’s world.
The works were printed at Julalikari Arts in Tennant Creek under the guidance of Alan Murn.

Written by Finegan Kruckemeyer
Everything was normal on your flight over the ocean…until the plane went down and you crashed on an unknown island!
Now there are vampires, time machines and superpowers to deal with, and any decision could mean life or death. The hardest part? It’s the audience who decides!
This is choose-your-own-adventure theatre, and with your very own hand held controller, you’ll be steering the play. But think carefully before you make a choice – or you might end up on the island… forever!

Freefall is an exhilarating exploration of bizarre and everyday fears, human quirks and truths. Using their extensive skills in circus and physical theatre, Gravity & Other Myths showcase the inner workings of seven young characters as they learn to engage with their fears.

Through spoken word and the unique physicality of each character, Freefall will transcend the conventional concept of fear to show the deeper complexities and resulting everyday habits that fear evokes in us all, defining how we act, who we are and whether we feel we do or don’t belong.

Winner of the 2010 Adelaide Fringe Best Circus Award.

You are invited to gather around the table for an extraordinary feast for the senses in this innovative mix of theatre, puppetry, film and special effects.

Set in a room dressed for an elegant birthday party, two waiters guide us through two dozen magical place settings, and greet a table of fantastic personalities, each a fairy tale character created by Hans Christian Andersen.

Teatret Gruppe 38 is a Danish theatre company who create theatre to challenge its audience, both child and adult.

Winner of the Best Children’s Theatre Award in the 2006 Danish Theatre Awards.

NB: This performance contains a small image of the Emperor in his new clothes.

Home is Where the Art Is provides opportunities for Year 5/6 students to participate in a day-long arts encounter with professional artists, James Parker and John Whitney.

Inspired by the COME OUT theme of belonging, students will utilise an array of visual arts techniques and mediums to create their own distinctive diorama - a modelled miniature world where their favourite things and wildest imaginations co-exist.

At the conclusion of the workshops, the artists will weave their magic, ‘building’ 90 dioramas to shape a dramatic installation in the DECS Centre Gallery, on display for the duration of the COME OUT Festival.

Home is Where the Art Is workshops offer a special opportunity for your students to spend a day at magnificent Carclew house – the perfect setting for a day of creating and making. Be quick, as places are limited.

Home is Where the Art Is provides opportunities for Year 5/6 students to participate in a day-long arts encounter with professional artists, James Parker and John Whitney.

Inspired by the COME OUT theme of belonging, students utilised an array of visual arts techniques and mediums during the Home is Where the Art is workshops to create their own distinctive diorama - a modelled miniature world where their favourite things and wildest imaginations co-exist.

James Parker and John Whitney ‘build’ 90 dioramas to shape a dramatic installation in the DECS Centre Gallery.

The Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands (APY Lands) in remote north-west South Australia, encompasses over 103,000 square kilometres of desert country and houses ten communities and homelands with a population of over 3000 people.

At a very young age, Anangu children across the APY Lands are taught their ancient culture through the Tjukurrpa or the Dreaming. Passed on through their grand parents, parents, aunties, uncles and extended family, the Tjukurrpa story is re-told orally, visually and through performance. This is expressed through Inma or ceremony, providing Anangu children with a strong sense of belonging to their country, and by their connection to people, place and the ancient spiritual world.

View this life-size-photo at Tandanya and ask your students what gives them a sense of belonging in their community? How is their family history recorded and shared with future generations?

Join us for a creative conversation with ABC's Art Nation presenter Fenella Kernebone.
Featuring:
Bodil Alling (Denmark)
Artistic Director, Teatret Gruppe 39
Sally Chance (Australia)
Freelance Artist
Festival Director, COME OUT Festival 2003, 2005, 2007
Professor Guy Claxton (UK)
Professor of the Learning Sciences and Co-Director, Centre for Real-World Learning, University of Winchester
Tony Reekie (Scotland)
Director, Imaginate Festival
Relax with a glass of wine and join the discussion through the informal Q and A – an essential contributor to the conversation.

In this fun, hands-on workshop students will learn to master the angklung, a tuned bamboo rattle from Indonesia and then invent original compositions to perform as an orchestra. This is the perfect way to get an insight into the way an orchestra, made up of many instruments and musicians, can work in harmony to create a sound that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Students and teachers alike will be delighted by the skill, energy and passion of Nico and Martin who are outstanding musicians and inspiring educators.

Nico Brown has written, performed and directed music for many theatre companies. A multi-instrumentalist, he has played for recording sessions for film and with many artists including PJ Harvey.

Martin Brunsden plays double bass and singing saw and appears on over 200 recordings. He has worked with literally hundreds of musicians, bands, artists, poets and theatre companies including Sinéad O’Connor.

Note: the 25 March 12.45pm Instant Orchestra workshop is an Opening Parade performance and can only be booked in conjunction with participation in the Opening Parade.

Guy Claxton is the UK's leading expert on practical ways of developing young people's learning and creative capacities.His teaching, writing and research focus on the development of young people’s learning and creative capabilities, especially those that are intuitive, imaginative and physical.
This keynote address will provide an inspiring and practical approach to encouraging creativity. Join Guy as he examines the cultivation of creativityand where it can be discovered in everyday lessons in the classroom.
Professor Guy Claxton is a member of the DECS Academic Reference Group for Teaching for Effective Learning (TfEL).

Knitted City will bring warmth, fun and colour to the streets of Adelaide, when a group of artists take to the streets with their, well…knitting.

Yarn bombing is a temporary and ephemeral public art installation that employs colourful and often whimsical displays of knitted, woven and crocheted fibres. Sometimes called ‘graffiti knitting’, the work aims to reclaim, personalise and engage with public spaces.

This project will enchant all that engage with it and invites the public to explore the relationship between themselves and the city’s public spaces and thoroughfares.

When Donny hears about a group of kids who have lost all of their belongings in a bushfire, he decides to do something about it. Collecting the toys from his friends is easy but his plans come unstuck when he can’t find a way to deliver them. His mum’s story about the Little Green Tractor who never gives up, spurs him on to find a way to get things done.

Taking us back to the early 1960s, Little Green Tractor is a rollicking rock-a-billy musical celebrating the importance of empathy, care and perseverance in human endeavour.
We can all make a difference if we care enough to try.

At the Living Library you’re invited to sit with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and hear their individual story.

Through conversation and interaction, each session will create an opportunity to gain greater understanding of how each of us can be connected by a similar need to feel that we belong to people, place and ritual.

The Living Library allows you and your students to borrow a ‘Living Book’ for 45 minutes so you may listen to their unique life story, respond, interact, and follow some of their journey with them face to face.

‘Living Books’ will include John Packham, Auntie Josie Agius, Aunty Raylene Campion, Lee Ann Buckskin, Eddie Peters and Jack Buckskin.

Look, Look, and Look Again - picture books in close up is an exhibition of original preliminary and finished artwork featuring picture book characters by Australian illustrators. The exhibition highlights the techniques and approaches used by authors and illustrators to create characters for children in words and images.

The displayed artworks enable visitors to the exhibition to explore the way illustrators convey information about characters - their personality, cultural and social ‘history’, thoughts and emotions and how they belong in a particular landscape or setting.

A touring exhibition from Dromkeen National Centre for Picture Book Art.

This incredible once-in-a-lifetime Masterclass provides an opportunity for ten outstanding young speculative fiction or fantasy writers to spend a week being inspired, challenged and guided by best-selling authors Sean Williams and A. J. Mackinnon.

#1 New York Times-bestselling speculative fiction author Sean Williams is the author of over 70 published short stories and 30 novels, including Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and multiple award-winning The Crooked Letter. He has several novels being published in 2011 including Curse of the Vampire.

A.J. (Sandy) Mackinnon spent his childhood between England and Australia. Currently a teacher at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar, he is the author of The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow and The Well at the World’s End, two accounts of his real-life adventures that inevitably got out of hand.

Please note, a week-long committment is required by each student. The cost of the Masterclass is $250pp for the week duration.

Selection process

To be considered for the Masterclass students must be between the ages of 14 and 18 and submit an example of their written work which is:
• In prose form (on any subject matter)

• A maximum of 500 words

• Either a short story or an excerpt of a story
Applications must be submitted by Friday 18th February by email to masterclass@comeoutfestival.com.au or posted to:

Attn: Masterclass
COME OUT Festival 2011
11 Jeffcott Street
North Adelaide SA 5006

Applicants submission must include applicants name, age, school, contact phone number, postal address and email address.

Successful applicants will be advised by Friday 11 March, 2011.

This is your chance to meet Australia’s most popular children’s writer. Andy Griffiths is the author of over twenty books, including nonsense verse, badly drawn cartoons, short stories, comic novels and creative writing textbooks. Over the past 15 years Andy’s books have been New York Times bestsellers, won over 40 Children’s Choice Awards, been adapted as a television cartoon series and sold over four million copies worldwide.

Best known as the author of the much-loved Just! series and The Day My Bum Went Psycho, in 2007 Andy became the first Australian author to win six Children’s Choice Awards in one year for Just Shocking!

The Very Bad Book is Andy’s latest book, with What Body Part is That? due to be published in 2011.
Note: Adelaide session FREE when you book another COME OUT Festival performance or workshop. Limited to 65 students per school.
Bookings not required for Family Weekend performances.

Message Sticks is an outdoor, environmental exhibition composed of a series of tall, intricately painted poles that arise majestically from the sun-drenched plants in the beautiful SA Water Mediterranean Garden at the Adelaide Botanic Garden.

Each pole tells a different story about what it means to live in the environment of South Australia, one of the world’s five Mediterranean zones. Senior secondary students working with community artist John Whitney have woven together stories of the original landscape, water, drought, fire, food, people and culture to create
an exhibition that explores the uniqueness of living where we do and what is needed to have a sustainable future.

Jeannie Baker’s exquisitely detailed collages featured in this exhibition depict the parallel lives of two culturally and globally distant families.
The collages gradually reveal a deeper meaning and a simple universal truth. In the context of strikingly different lifestyles, remotely different countries, landscapes and differences of clothing; the families are essentially the same.

Our World – My Home is an exhibition of artworks that reflect the world, friends, family, places, and rituals that give us a sense of belonging; as seen through the eyes and imagination of children.
The artworks have been produced by children aged 2 – 15 years, using a range of materials and techniques including drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, clay, textiles and collage.

In March 2011, more than 30 pianos will be delivered to the streets of Adelaide, metropolitan areas and various regional communities for the COME OUT Festival. Located in public parks, streets and squares, the pianos are there for anyone to play and engage with. Each piano is adorned with the simple invitation ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’.
Play Me, I’m Yours is an artwork by British artist Luke Jerram who has been touring the project globally since 2008. The artwork is designed to create a means for strangers who regularly occupy the same space to connect with one another as well as activate and claim ownership of their urban landscape.
COME OUT is proud to dedicate this project to the memory of Jim Giles (1931 – 2010), founding Chair of the Come Out Youth Arts Festival, in honour of his significant contribution to the arts in South Australia and the serenity he enjoyed while playing a piano.

Reko Rennie is a Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay/Gummaroi man, born in Melbourne. Without any formal training, Reko has matured into an interrogative and highly innovative street artist. Through his art, Reko explores what it means to be an urban Aboriginal in contemporary Australian society.

His art and installations continually explore issues of identity, race, law and justice, land rights, stolen generations and other issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in contemporary society.

This COME OUT exhibition presents Reko’s characteristic vibrant colours, line work and intricate stencil imagery. Drawing inspiration from his Aboriginal heritage, the artist recreates traditional images in a contemporary context using spray paint and stencils. His work often features the characteristic flora and fauna that represent his community.

Set some time in a magical future, when ‘The Last Zoo in the World’ is the only place to see many of earth’s animals; a young girl Zia and the King of the World, set out together to travel across land and sea in the search for Nanuk, the Polar Bear.
The King has a dream of being able to Hip-Hop on ice without slipping and Nanuk is the only one who can help him! The question is, how will they get all the way from South Australia to the North Pole? And what if too much ice has melted and there are no Polar Bears left?
With the questionable assistance of an Aussie yellow crested cockatoo; a dizzy honeycomb cowfish; a proud, lazy lion and a wise old albatross; Zia and the King find what they’re looking for and learn some important lessons along the way.
Available to regional schools only.

This special closing event is a beautiful orchestral and choral work celebrating people, place and ritual and features 100 young performers.

The Mostari, or keepers of the Mostar bridge, have for centuries past dived off the bridge in a display of heroism and bravado, plunging 24 metres into the icy green waters of the Neretva River below. The 400-year old bridge was destroyed in 1993 during the horrific disintegration of former Yugoslavia. Tank shells sent chunks of medieval stone tumbling into the water.

Some of the divers died defending the bridge during the war. Now the old bridge has been reconstructed and those who survived can dive again. But where Stari Most once united East and West there are now deep social divisions.

An intense and lyrical work, Stari Most carries at its heart a strong message of reconciliation.

Conducted by Richard Chew with Douglas McNicol, Joanna McWaters, Young Adelaide Voices, children’s choir and chamber orchestra.

Official Closing Event

On our island we worked, we played and we danced…until the stranger landed on our shores.

Based on the evocative and haunting book The Island* by Armin Greder, this hybrid performance fuses together live physical performance, literature, digital art, sculpture and fashion to tell a poignant story of a community damaged by fear.

Steam Island is a Steam Punk fantasy devised and depicted by eight young physical performers and set to a lyrically enchanting musical score performed live. Delving into the psyche of the group dynamic, Steam Island explores issues associated with multiculturalism and social inclusion; the project asks audiences to reflect on decisions relating to others’ sense of belonging. This work is not just a simple staging of an award-winning book but an imaginative, dynamic performance with a powerful social message.

Stop(the)gap is a major moving image project exploring the fertile ground between cinema and the visual arts. It brings together recent works from internationally renowned indigenous artists from Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Canada and the USA, including a new commission by Warwick Thornton whose debut feature film, Samson and Delilah won the Caméra d’Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

Stop(the)gap celebrates the vibrancy and complexity of contemporary Indigenous new media art and features moving image exhibitions, film screenings, outdoor projections, performances and discussions across various Adelaide venues.

Where can your memories take you? Where can your imagination take you? And where do you belong?

This new work by the Youth Ensemble celebrates the coming of age of Restless, now 20 years old. Inspired by the dancers’ memories and aspirations of both real and imagined places, Take Me There uses startling video technology and a pumping original score to reveal what happens when we can really go to the places we’ve always dreamed about.

Poignant, hilarious and engaging, it not only transports the performers but the audience as well into a world where there is freedom to be wherever you want, whenever you want. The results are exhilarating and astounding. Where would you go?

Mousey-Mouse lives all alone in a little box at the back of the garden where it’s safe and quiet. Catty-Cat lives all over the place! The other mice won’t play with Mousey-Mouse and he’s not too sure why he doesn’t belong. But mouse friendships happen in all kinds of ways in this garden and when one mouse helps out another everything changes...

An all-Whyalla production about belonging and not belonging.

Thick Skinned Things is the extraordinary story of a girl who is so shy she lives underground like a mole. At the full moon she comes up, sings a song and enjoys the fresh air. One day someone sees her and turns her life upside down.

This is a deeply moving production - simply but perfectly staged, with an affecting musical background, about the feelings we have when everything seems to be going wrong.

Sometimes things do not turn out the way we expect them to.

Baby: “Woke up. Smiled. Called for my tall ones. Travelled. Arrived in yet another strange room. Heard music, saw dancing…many more smiles.”

This ground-breaking World Premiere production explores the day-to-day reality of being a baby. Developed through extensive research in childcare centre baby rooms, this beautiful performance will delight and stimulate our very youngest festival goers. Celebrate with your baby as they enjoy their first live performance experience of dance and music created especially for them.

An outdoor dance party for toddlers and parents celebrating contemporary pop music hits – a selection of the most danceable songs from history performed live by DJ TR!P and the Zephyr Quartet. Très amusant!

Glass Studio (max 10 people)
LEARN the secrets of glass blowing, watch artists in action in the hot glass studio and get a step-by-step guide to this amazing process!

Ceramic Studio (max 10 people)
MAKE your own clay creature! Watch the artists show how it’s done, then get hands-on with clay and create.

Metal Studio (max 10 people)
CREATE your very own pressed metal pendant, while learning the tricks of the trade.

If you would like to include a tour of the JamFactory with the workshop, please advise when making a booking. Tours are $4 per person.

Bookings for the tour and workshops can be made by contacting JamFactory Reception
T: 08 8410 0727 E: contact@jamfactory.com.au

A groundbreaking exhibition of eight contemporary Australian glass artists, Tour De Force presents progressive and provocative works, set to both challenge and inspire.
Watch Tour De Force glass artist Tom Moore at work in the hot glass studio!

Vuil Kind [Vile Child] tells the turbulent tale of Lieve, a girl who struggles to survive in a world that seems to rage against her. Her parents split up and she moves out of home. Her best friend Jessica looks after her together with her shy Aunt Odila. But when the boy she is in love with makes a fool of her, Lieve’s dark side takes over. She betrays everything she loves and pushes away those who care for her.

An exploration of the fleeting nature of relationships and the transience of belonging.

A heartbreaking and inspiring music theatre production about the messiness of life by one of the world’s bravest theatre companies.

“They perform with such abandon and the music is so accomplished it makes the spectator melt...an understated little gem.”
De Volkskrant, 16 October 2007

The world is changing rapidly – but are our education systems keeping up with the pace?

This landmark independent documentary, inspired and guided by Lord Puttnam and Sir Michael Barber, explores the education system in the UK and asks whether the current system provides young people with the opportunity to develop their talents.

High profile figures who share their personal experiences include Sir Richard Branson, Germain Greer, Henry Winkler, Bill Bryson and Sir Ken Robinson. This thought-provoking film offers unique insight across generations and nations, and reveals a very inconvenient truth about education.

What can we learn from this film as we consider the Australian education experience?

When the Pictures Came is an extraordinary cross-cultural collaboration between Tasmania’s Terrapin Puppet Theatre and the Children’s Art Theatre of China Welfare Institute.
This absurd and comic story by Finegan Kruckemeyer is about four hapless characters that learn to work as a team, to overcome a formidable opponent who seeks to prevent them from living in harmony. Slapstick, puppets, and innovative digital techniques make this a more-than-ridiculous cartoon-style story.
Under Frank Newman’s direction, the animations of the award-winning film maker Zeng Yigang blend with black-light puppetry and live performance to create a remarkable piece of theatre.

If you’ve been allergic to Shakespeare up until now, this show is the perfect remedy!

A bold, irreverent romp through all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays. Blazing hilarity that aims to out-Python Monty! In a world where we constantly lament that we are “time-poor”, who has the time or indeed the stamina to endure the daunting length of the Immortal Bard’s canon? Three brave actors brazenly blend the best of the brilliant Bard with the bottom of the absurdity barrel in this farcical feast of inspired lunacy. A side-splitting roller-coaster ride involving improvisation, pop culture and audience participation, as well as the fastest, funniest “Hamlet” you’re ever likely to see.

These three guys are making it up as they go along, getting by on blind enthusiasm and boundless energy in a performance that William Shatner…er, Shakespeare…himself would be proud of.

In a production bursting with comic energy and featuring appearances by sock puppets and sharks, vampires and dinosaurs, severed heads, kilted poltergeists, lobotomies, really ugly wigs and a fair bit of projectile vomiting, it’s guaranteed to convert even the most resistant to the many splendours of Shakespeare.

May the Bard be with you!