Backyard Possum Encounter

Backyard Possum Encounter - Update

Our play is beginning to take shape! All of the stories about western ringtail possums from our school community have been collated, and Arts staff spent a very productive weekend with Michael Barlow, Associate Director of Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, and Chloe Flockart, who will be our lead artist on this project. 

Chloe is a multi-talented artist with puppetry skills, acting, and directing. She has worked with a number of companies in Australia and the UK, including Barking Gecko Theatre Company, The Last Great Hunt, and Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. We’re very excited to be working with her on our project.

There will be a call-out shortly for expressions of interest from Year Seven and above students who would like to perform in the play. Dr Watson will work with students this term to further develop the narrative structure that has been mapped out for the play.

We’re excited to announce that we will perform an original puppet play at the Kalyenup Theatre later this year.

This play will be created in collaboration with Michael Barlow, the artist director of Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, and several theatre designers and puppeteers. We are very grateful for funding from the Creativity on Schools Grant from the Department of Local Government, Sport, and Cultural Industries.

The play will allow students to perform and develop various theatre skills. There will be a call out for students interested early in Term Two. It will also raise awareness about the critically endangered Western Ringtail possum. 

Albany is one of the few places where this nocturnal possum can still be found. Its numbers have been reduced by 90% since colonial settlement. Its main challenges are habitat loss, predators (cats and foxes), climate change, and roadkill.

But things are not all bad for the possum. It turns out that they are adapting to living in our backyards very well. And so, begins our play!

Ms Rachel Mordy | Head of the Arts