Terrapin

"I think some of the key themes [in The Riddle of Washpool Gully] are around curiosity, courage and imagination” – Remount Director Sarah Hamilton

Don’t miss the mysterious creatures who awaken in Washpool Gully🌲

Performances:
Theatre Royal, Hobart 3 - 5 Oct
Meander Valley Performing Arts Centre, Deloraine, 9 Oct
George Town Memorial Hall, George Town, 10 Oct
Earl Arts Centre, Launceston, 11 - 12 Oct

Book your tickets: https://bit.ly/washpool-gully

Did you catch Terrapin on page 3 of The Mercury Newspaper today?

Their show, The Riddle of Washpool Gully opens today with shows running until Saturday. Don't miss this tale of adventure and mystery!

Book now!

The Riddle of Washpool Gully
Terrapin & Dead Puppet Society
3 - 5 Oct
Tickets: www.theatreroyal.com.au/shows/riddle-washpool-gully-0

Our friends at The Old Woolstore are giving away a family pass to see The Riddle of Washpool Gully at Theatre Royal, Hobart this Saturday 5 October, and a night's accommodation in a two-bedroom apartment!

For your chance to win head to their website and enter before 9am Thursday 3 October 🌲🦉

The Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel, Hobart Tasmania WIN A FAMILY PASS TO THE RIDDLE OF WASHPOOL GULLY Enter your details below to be in the draw to win a family pass to Terrapin’s The Riddle of Washpool Gully and a nights accommodation in a two bedroom apartment The Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel!Terms and Conditions Apply. Entries Close 9am Thursda...

A boy and their mum move to a new town - a tiny town, one which nearly everyone has forgotten. But something is stirring deep in the scrub, in a dry old creek bed once called Washpool Gully. But we all know there's no such thing as monsters - right?

The Riddle of Washpool Gully arrives in Tasmanian theatres next week. Book your tickets: https://bit.ly/washpool-gully

Thanks to our presenting partner Dead Puppet Society; production partners Fullers Bookshop, Theatre Royal, Hobart and Princess Theatre Launceston; media partner The Hobart Magazine; and supporter The Old Woolstore.

It's nearly the October school holidays, which means one thing: Terrapin is coming to Tasmanian theatres. The Riddle of Washpool Gully is nearly here.

Performances:
Theatre Royal, Hobart 3–5 Oct
Meander Valley Performing Arts Centre, Deloraine, 9 Oct
George Town Memorial Hall, George Town, 10 Oct
Earl Arts Centre, Launceston, 11–12 Oct

Book your tickets now: https://bit.ly/washpool-gully

Thanks to our presenting partner Dead Puppet Society; production partners Fullers Bookshop, Theatre Royal, Hobart and Princess Theatre Launceston; media partner The Hobart Magazine; and supporter The Old Woolstore.

Some new feathers are coming 🐣

We've been working away behind the scenes on the Terrapin website - keep your peepers peeped next week for some fresh new finery!
📸 Feathers at Lansdowne Crescent PS, Peter Mathew

A special recent project 🤝

Last week we wrapped Storied - an intergenerational workshop which brought together elders from Uniting AgeWell Mornington Community, Lillian Martin, and students from Warrane Primary School. Over four weeks, the group collaborated on a shadow puppetry production which told some of the elders' life stories - all performed with aplomb by the students.

"My guys had the BEST time today. Once they overcame those initial nerves they were all over it! They’re super excited to return next week." - Teacher, Warrane PS

Storied is supported by the Tasmanian Community Fund and Uniting AgeWell - thank you!

📸 Peter Mathew

👋 Emerging Launceston stage managers: we're bringing our Stride program to the north, in collaboration with University of Tasmania, to run a FREE Stage Management Masterclass.

📆 Friday 13 & Saturday 14 September
⏱ 9.30am - 4pm
🏫 The Annexe Theatre, Inveresk

Over two days, you'll get a hands-on introduction to the craft of stage management with a focus on its technical aspects. Run by Terrapin's production manager and experienced stage manager Ingrid Rahlen, this workshop will help hone your understanding of what a stage manager does in the theatre.

More info and register: https://bit.ly/3WPpBy9

Home – Terrapin Puppet Theatre Terrapin is the centre of excellence for contemporary puppetry in Australia, creating puppetry-based performances for all ages, and touring worldwide.

This is such beautiful news!
Congratulations Annette!

Annette Downs was Terrapin’s second Artistic Director, a position in which she championed regional and schools touring cementing Terrapin’s cultural identity, something we’ll never be able to say thank you enough for…

Many artists, arts workers and arts organisations have been fortunate enough to receive your support throughout the years and it’s your selfless fight for the arts that makes you the most deserving winner!

✨And the 2024 Wendy Blacklock Industry Legend Award winner is..
Annette Downs

From her work at Terrapin, through to Performing Lines Tas, PAC Australia has long observed and admired the career of Annette Downs, particularly the support she has provided for artists to thrive in a regional context. In particular, the sharing and legacy of Annette’s artist residency and development model continues to hold strong resonance and impact across the country, including as part of the Local Giants program co-developed by PAC Australia, Regional Arts Australia and Performing Lines.

Discover more paca.org.au/events/impactwards/

The Paper Escaper takes the US in 2025
👀

Save the Date for the 2025 TYA/USA National Festival & Conference - May 6th to 8th, 2025! Hosted by the The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts the TYA/USA 2025 Festival & Conference will invite theatremakers from across the world to gather for a joyful celebration of TYA/USA’s 60th anniversary, as we engage in artistic exchange, meaningful dialogue, and advocacy for the future of our industry.

TYA/USA will also host a one-day Leadership Summit on Monday May 5th in partnership with Childrens Theatre Foundation of America, with two tracks occurring simultaneously on the Kennedy Center campus. The first track for Emerging Leaders will serve current students, emerging career professionals, and independent artists in TYA, and the second track will include TYA Executive Directors, Managing Directors, Artistic Directors, and Board Members.

Registration opens Wednesday, October 30, 2024. Want to be a part of our programming? We are currently accepting proposals for Breakout Sessions and submissions for papers to be reviewed by our first annual TYA/USA Research & Scholarship Working Group! Click here to learn more about these opportunities and details about our 2025 Festival & Conference: https://www.tyausa.org/festival/

Photo featuring Bryony Anderson's puppets in Terrapin’s “The Paper Escaper.” Photo By Peter Mathew.
—
[ID: a geometric white, green, and pink logo reading "2025 TYA/USA National Festival & Conference Hosted by The Kennedy Center Washington, D.C. May 6 - 8” over a production photo featuring the grey head, torso, and hand of a puppet of an elderly man wearing glasses and a bowtie. He is looking down and gently cupping the face of a large yellow, orange, and red caterpillar puppet. The caterpillar puppet is inching along a flat piece of scenery made to look like a green geometric bush covered with and surrounded by red, orange, yellow, and blue flowers.]

We were thrilled recently to receive our Climate Active certification, meaning Terrapin is now certified carbon neutral for our 2022 and 2023 activities. In the short term, this means we're offsetting our carbon emissions. It's an imperfect solution, and as we move forward our most important work will be in finding practical and creative ways to reduce our emissions in the first place.

This includes analysing and lightening our impact in touring, freight, marketing and business operations. It’s considering re-use, salvaged and recycled materials, and low toxicity as first principles in designing our puppets and sets. It’s supporting our team and our audiences to find low-carbon ways to travel to work and performances. It’s collaborating with like-minded organisations to learn from them and share our efforts.

There’s no full stop to this process: it’s iterative and won’t be achieved immediately. We are still learning the language and tools of decarbonisation – but we’re enthusiastic and committed to the long haul.

Terrapin is supported in our climate action by the Pennicott Wilderness Journeys Foundation - thank you for your local leadership in sustainability.

Beyond excited because we'll premiere The Story of Chi at OzAsia Festival later this year!

This new work is a collaboration with Contemporary Asian Australian Performance written by Hiroki Kobayashi, Hoa Pham, Jeremy Nguyen. The Story of Chi is a tale of magical realism that explores intergenerational tension in an Asian-Australian family through the relationship between a young girl and a dragon.

🏮OzAsia Festival 2024 | 📅 24 Oct—10 Nov
📖 View their program: https://bit.ly/4drlgrq

Stride opportunity: Grant writing and project planning workshop

We're introducing two new topics to Stride, both of which can be hard to get your head around. Emerging artists and arts workers - we want to help you put your best foot forward!

Bring a grant application (either in progress or submitted), or a project you're working on, to this hands-on workshop and let's collaborate to hone your skills.

Moonah Arts Centre
Tuesday 20 August, 10am - 4pm
Registration is free, but places are limited,
→ https://www.terrapin.org.au/event/stride/?
Registrations close Friday 16 August.

Birds of a feather flock together right?

Well, this week the Feathers team is spreading their wings and are headed to see the King Island District School

🦆🦉🦜

We thoroughly enjoyed working on this project with such a terrific group of young people!

The tour keeps rolling 🚌

Thank you to every single one of you who donated to our EOFY campaign this year. With your help, we've raised over $10,000 which will help keep our tour on the road bringing rollicking performances to Tasmanian school children.

We appreciate you!

Schools touring isn't possible without your help – and we need your help!

Please give generously this tax time to keep us on the road
→ DONATE NOW 🙏 https://bit.ly/terrapineofy

Two days days until June 30!

Now is the time to donate: we need your help to keep Terrapin on the road.

We're just over halfway to our goal – will you help us reach our target of $15,000?

DONATE → https://bit.ly/terrapineofy

This July we're running another Stage Management Masterclass, run by our production manager Ingrid Rahlén with venue support from Theatre Royal Hobart.

So, if you're an emerging Tasmanian theatre technician or a mid-career practitioner wanting to explore something new this is your opportunity to put your hand up 🙌

Apply here: https://www.terrapin.org.au/event/stride/
📷 Peter Mathew

Time is running out to support our schools touring program before 30 June. Make a donation to help keep our show on the road!

🙋‍♀️ $100 allows 15 children to attend a performance at their school
🐣 $250 supports the production of puppets and props
🚐 $500 helps our cast travel to a remote Tasmanian school

Give the gift of live theatre to a Tasmanian school child → donate now: https://bit.ly/3yp1Ynv

📢 Support Terrapin's school touring program!

Do you remember the ✨magic✨ of a Terrapin performance from your days at school? Many Tasmanians do. But as costs rise, we need your help to keep these performances accessible for students.

Live theatre matters because it sparks curiosity and fosters creative thinking and teachers back us up.

"Terrapin performances build openness to new ideas, especially in remote areas." – Teacher, 2023

Your support is what keeps us on the road. Donate this EOFY to support Terrapin's schools tour → https://bit.ly/3yp1Ynv

'Every time we walk into a new school, there is a buzz of anticipation as the students (and teachers) look forward to watching the latest story from Terrapin. Oftentimes the students we visit don't have access to artistic activities, so to be able to offer this sort of creative connection is a real privilege. As they let the show wash over them, their faces are often in awe, outrage or joy as the incredible stories make an impact on their worlds.'

Our touring stage manager Ellen on how it feels to visit Tasmanian schools with Terrapin performances.

Every Tasmanian child deserves to experience creativity and wonder in their life. Make a donation this EOFY to keep our show on the road. Donate at the link in bio 🔗
Image: Peter Mathew

We've been touring Tasmanian schools since Terrapin's founding in 1981. Alongside the performance, we've also been creating educational resources - because it's not enough to just turn up and pull out the puppets.

We make worksheets, discussion questions, making activities, performance prompts and a pre-show visual story (which includes an intro to the story and each artist/performer and is a helpful guide for younger, neurodiverse or nervous kids) because we want to back up our performance and get students thinking.

Your support is what keeps us on the road. Donate this EOFY to support Terrapin's schools tour → https://bit.ly/3yp1Ynv