This fastmoving, comical production showcases the immense talent of the younger, acting students in Curtin University’s Theatre Arts programme. It is presented at, and in conjunction with, the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, 1 Short Street, Fremantle, as part of the Fremantle Festival. The short season runs until Saturday 29^th October with the 90-minute performances at 7.30 pm.

It is an open stage without any cover or flats on the wings.

As the lights rise, a table and chairs are placed onto stage. A muslin screen appears centre stage; this acts as a backcloth, or as a translucent screen allowing shadowgraphs, or a ‘private look’ at action in another room. Production designer was Julie Reeves. Set design Olivia Dugandzic, and set construction and properties by Matt Arnold and Max Gipson

        Heidi (Kharla Fannon) is sitting at the dinner table with her mother (Ellen Dimitriou) and father (Alex Gerrans). They are a strange couple, who only talk to Heidi through marionettes that are dressed as they are (puppets by Jiri Barec). The parents announce that because they are going out for the evening, that Heidi should stay with the next-door neighbour – The Ogre (operated by Frazer Shepherdson). The Ogre is a strange, bunyip-like creature that has a long tail (designed by Zoë Atkinson, who constructed it with Jiri Zmitko).

        The Ogre is madly in love with Heidi, but he is constantly rejected. The babysitter opens an ancient book of tales and starts to read to Heidi. As piano plays softly in the background (Taisiya Payne), the stories become alive. An old miserable cook (Holly Mason) can be seen stirring her magic bowl in the kitchen. She produces three magical bread rolls (food puppets made by Bec Thorman and Helen Rice) that represent the King’s three daughters. The three daughters sang perfectly in A cappella. Their voices were clear and powerful, outstanding madrigal work (Song arranger Dylan Dorotich).

      The bad tempered and miserable Princess (Shanae Tuxford) demanded to be entertained and made to laugh. Anyone not succeeding was to be beheaded. A series of entertainers (Lizzie Howard, Chelsea Gibson, Caitlin McFeat) tried their best to make her smile, by forming life-sized puppets with lengths of tubing for the arms and legs and balloons for the head. Sadly, after several hundred attempts, the miserable regal child still did not smile.

      Will happiness ever come to the Royal Family and poor Ogre?

The joint directors were Curtin University theatre’s senior lecturer, Leah Mercer and Spare Parts Puppet Theatre’s executive Philip Mitchell. Caitlin McFeat and Anna Lindstedt who aided in the dramaturg ably assisted them.  Mary Zimmerman cleverly employs unusual costumes and lighting to fashion the desired effect, here we have the extra gifts of the quality puppets.

This was a wonderful play to watch, filled with magic, terror, song and dance, but it must have been a complex play to present. It was stage managed by Paris Fields, who was assisted by Jack Bengough. Although there is plenty of humour, because of the dark themes and storylines, the ideal age for the audience is probably over 9 years.

The ghostly white costumes were created by Alicia Turner, Sally Davis and Ashleigh Ryan, with assistance of the construction sewing by Maddie Earle-Sadler, Cameron Norton and Bethan Walmsley. The complementary white make up was by Lauren Beeton and Ashleigh Ryan.

The atmosphere of the play relied heavily upon the clever technical effects (lighting designer Stephen Carr), the sound design by Sam Johnson and Julian Sewell (under the mentorship of the highly respected professional, Ben Collins) was superb, blending perfectly with the live music. Likewise, the lighting was vibrant and beautifully paced by Molly Earnshaw and Sam Ireland.

It is easy for a cast to think, ‘this is a children’s show, so we can get away with an average effort’. The truth is that you have to work twice as hard for youngsters; they can be your biggest critics. This show had tremendous pace, filled with athletic action – cartwheels, dancing – beautiful singing; in fact every acting talent was demanded of the performers, and as a terrific team, the cast gave their all to this vibrant production. Most professional and great fun.

Now in its 35th successful year, The Spare Parts Puppet Theatre under its associate director, Michael Barlow, is presenting the World Premiere of Tohby’s stage adaptation of his inspiring book. This 50-minute show, which is aimed at children aged 5 and above, is being performed at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, 1 Short Street in Fremantle (opposite train station).

The performances are daily, Monday to Saturday, at 10.00 am and 1.00 pm. until 8^th October, with twilight performances at 6.30 pm on Wednesday 28^th September and Friday 7^th October.

You can have a chance to meet the playwright, Tohby Riddle after the 6.30 pm show on Wednesday 28^th September, when he visits Spare Parts.

Sadly, Noriko Nishimoto, who produced some superb puppets for the company over the years and was working on this show, has passed away. Production Manager, Chad Wetton, has gathered a well-respected, puppet construction and design team to make this show’s creations; they are Leon Hendroff, Rosie Martin, Julie Reeves and Bryan Woltjen.

The finishing touches to this show come from lighting designer, Graham Walne and composer, Lee Buddle who has produced a delightful original score, ranging from light jazz with saxophone and piano, to a soft sentimental score.

The set is a backdrop of beige skyscrapers. City crowd scenes were created by life-size cut-outs pushed around by the cast.

   Covered in pigeons, Yvan (Yvan Karlsson – great fun) introduces himself as a street performer, struggling to make a living and survive. In the evening, Clive (Jessica Lewis – delightful) the fox, immaculately dressed in a copper coloured suit introduces himself.

     We then get shown around Clive’s city, before having a peep inside a local factory where the bored workers are carrying out monotonous tasks.

     After work, Clive meets his friend Humphrey (Shirley Van Sanden – great characterisation) who is a depressed, homeless donkey. The couple find a blue envelope outside the theatre, is their luck changing? It is then they see the city’s richest man, Mr Crocodile (Geoff Kelso – boo, hiss) in his astrakhan coat. A nasty man.

The delightful cast comprises some of WA’s most talented, dramatic actors – regularly seen at the Heath Ledger and Blue Room Theatres – being winners of major acting awards.

The production is cleverly presented on several levels. The young kids, 5 years and up, will just love the colourful masks and the ‘live’ glove puppets, in the style of a ‘Punch and Judy’ show. Children 7 years and older, will also enjoy the storyline and start to appreciate the underlying themes of family relationship, and how to connect with friends.

The show’s opening was wonderful as Yvan did his pigeon act (c.f. Mary Poppins’s bird lady) before introducing us to teddy bear, a fun marionette.

There is a quite dark scene when one character has a nightmare; this may frighten the younger children. I felt that other than Clive, there was very little colour to the show, as the costumes were neutral. Children need visual warmth to relax.

Be one of the 60,000 audience members each year, to catch that special piece of magic unavailable anywhere else in the area. The tickets are at a minimal cost, so treat your family and neighbours.

This delightful show for children of all ages is being presented by Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, the leading contemporary group of puppeteers and puppet designers in the country. Over the years, this team of artistic boffins has taught children how to interpret stories, and in turn, the presenters have learned from their audiences what the youngsters love and expect.

This production can be seen at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, 1 Short Street in Fremantle, adjoining the lawn opposite the Fremantle railway station. Shows are daily at 10.00 am and 1.00 pm, from 4^th to the 30^th of January 2016.

Centre stage is a short staircase leading to the front door of Miss Lily’s exotic holiday resort hotel (set designer Iona McAuley).

     Three koalas enter carrying a cricket bat; they are Mum (Rebecca Bradley), Dad (Shane Adamczak) and their mad son (Nick Pages-Oliver). The koalas are renowned for being stupid. They are training for a sports competition against the wombats, not knowing that the actual competition sport is footie.

     Dragging his suitcase is a large quokka-looking animal called Potoroo. He is exhausted and is relieved to find his hotel – ‘Miss Lily’s’. He is horrified to find that Miss Lily is actually a large crocodile (Rebecca Bradley), she seems very friendly, but will Potoroo be eaten?

     Potoroo is sad because he is the only Potoroo left in the world. He has searched everywhere to find others without success.

     Miss Lily tries to cheer up Potoroo by dancing the tango with her magical, pink feather boa. In his excitement, Potoroo gets into trouble and perhaps danger too.

This is a delightful story that thanks to clever direction and planning by Michael Barlow, moved at a cracking pace ensuring that even the youngest audience members – there were quite a few aged only four – were enthralled. The youngsters sat open-mouthed at the hilarious action and the visual effects. Lighting designer Karen Cook’s work was exceptional, some of the illusions required careful lighting. Musical composer, Lee Buddle, created quirky fun-filled tunes to complement the action.

Although all of the scenery shifting was carried out by the cast, the production managers, Elliot Chambers and Chad Wetton safeguarded that the costume changes were slick, as the action was timed to the split second. On several occasions, the cast exited stage left and reappeared stage right seconds later, wearing a different costume.

The puppets were some of the best I have seen that the Spare Parts theatre, which can always be relied upon to produce top-class puppets. So respected are Spare Parts that they have linked with WAAPA and Curtin Theatre students creating courses to show the complex tricks behind making and operating a quality puppet. The puppet makers for this show were Iona McAuley, Sanjiva Margio, Leon Hendroff, and Bryan Woltjen. Miss Lily was a full-sized crocodile that appeared most realistic. It had to be light enough for the puppeteer and operator to dance with and yet look convincing. Lyndell Darch supervised the fabric construction.

This play, in the intimate atmosphere of this theatre, was perfect for children over 4 years old. The three actors, who are recognised as first-class stand-up comics, vividly brought to life the many characters of the story. It was wonderful to hear so many young children loving, possibly, their first live show. Highly recommended.

Artist and illustrator, Tove died in 2004 aged almost 87, having won the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen prize in 1966 for her children’s writing. The 15 million books she has sold were in 44 different languages.

The 40-minute performances can be seen at The Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, 1 Short Street, opposite the railway station in Fremantle.

This special holiday season runs until 18^th April, with performances Monday – Saturday at 10.00 am and 1.00 pm. Excludes Sundays and Public Holidays.

In the centre of the stage is a metre-high island created with beige canvas. On the top is a lighthouse. At the rear of the stage is a circular flat with a flight of gulls flying across.

       The adventurous Moomins, a family of hippo-looking trolls and a troublesome little girl, Little My, have decided to set off across the sea, looking for a better life. They set off into the sunset in their boat, eventually landing on the shore of a small rocky island (designer Leon Hendroff) that was the home of a large lighthouse (props Ben Gates).

      The family searched the island for the lighthouse keeper without any success, so they decide to set up their own home – with a beautiful garden for the mother.

      No sooner had they started to settle in than a ghostly figure – The Groke – appears.

This charming play was originally presented by Bec Bradley a few years ago, here it has been revitalised by director Michael Barlow and his creative consultant Noriko Nishimoto. There is however a delightful song sung by Bec in Lee Buddle’s most inventive and atmosphere-filled soundscape.

Production Manager, Elliot Chambers, sat at the side of the stage in front of the wings, operating the lighting console; he certainly multi-tasked, as along with his lighting design, he has several small cameo appearances in the story.

The puppets were actually soft, stuffed, fabric toys made by Annie Robinson. Even though they were manually moved around by the solo performer (Michael Barlow) they had the most delightful expression and the children were captivated immediately by them. Talented Michael told the story, with many voices and a great deal of humour, as the engrossed little faces stared on in amazement.

The audience of 5 – 9 year olds sat in silence, totally mesmerised by the ‘puppetry’ and effects of this light-hearted, easy to follow storyline.

The children of all ages enjoyed this charismatic show.