We offer all our enews , Facebook and Twitter friends discounts and great seats to our shows. 

If you want to be Barking Gecko front row royalty in 2011 sign up to our enews or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. 

The African Magician is touring the Mid West.  Starting in the Geraldton they travel through Pindar, Three Springs, Karalundi, Meekatharra and conclude in Mt Magnet on the 26^th of August. They have been getting a fantastic response from  schools who are captivated by the show.  They even made the front page of the Geraldton Guardian!  

John has developed a notable directing career over the last seven years working with some of Australia's most respected theatre companies such as Bell Shakespeare, Sydney Theatre Company, Company B Belvior and Black Swan State Theatre Company.

With Barking Gecko he will focus his creative passion to quality storytelling through theatre to ignite young imaginations. John Sheedy believes "There is a huge responsibility attached to creating theatre for young audiences. The marks we leave are deeper; we are addressing a value system that is in development. Young audiences are the near future of our society. They have the power to know the world and transform it. I look forward to creating theatre that allows children to imagine, full of laughter, anger, sadness, fear and joy!"

John has spent the past few weeks in Japan attending the Kijimuna Festival in Okinawa and the TACT Festival in Osaka on behalf of Barking Gecko Theatre Company and commences at Barking Gecko's Subiaco premises on 10 August 2010. The Festivals feature content from around the world and are regarded as two of the most prestigious and popular theatre festivals for children and young audiences in the Asian region.

In confirming John's appointment, Barking Gecko Theatre Company's Chair, Michael Mitchell said, "John is a hugely talented director and we are very pleased to have secured a professional of his standing to Western Australia. As Barking Gecko enters its third decade creating theatre for young West Australians and audiences throughout the region, we view our future with great enthusiasm and confidence."

Barking Gecko is ideally placed to continue to advance theatre for young people to new levels of performance and professionalism, and further reinforcing theatre as an inventive means of challenging and inspiring young minds. We will bring our audiences an exciting new theatrical feast in 2011, which includes the return of our highly popular and greatly missed workshop program. Having been actively involved in the very successful NIDA Open Program, John Sheedy is intending to inject Barking Gecko's workshop program with a professional edge, looking at 'skilling up' Perth's artistic youth with a focus on building practical knowledge of the arts industry.

For more information, Please contact Katherine McLean, General Manager on (08) 9380 3080. 

We sent Damon Lockwood, Natalie Rees and Cameron Clark off to the Tom Price Nameless Festival to perform Castle Rascals. West Trac sponsored the performance that took place in the local playground.   Approx 2,500 families attending the Festival which had a sideshow alley and a variety of entertainment including bands and markets. Castle rascals was well received by the locals who were surprised to be caught up in the performance.   

The Center for Intensive Schooling (CIS) approached Barking Gecko to speak during their conference at the Subiaco Arts Centre.  CIS provides support to WA schools to improve the educational outcomes for students with disabilities and special needs.

Amber Onat Gregory who was part of The Generation Project spoke about sensory theatre at the conference.  The Sensory Project was an innovative and unique sensory performance for young people experiencing mild to profound disabilities.

Amber moved to Perth from the UK in 2009 after graduating with a Masters in Applied Performance (UK).  She is a workshop facilitator in prisons, detention centres, nursing homes and schools.  To hear a clip from Amber’s speech click here .

The Sensory Project received a brilliant response from special needs teachers and there is significant interest in continuing this work. 

We had a fantastic opening night, which was a lot of fun thanks to our friends from Kulcha or organised Spirit of Africa to perform at our post show function. 

To read the review from The West Australian click here .

DIY Project
Developed by Arielle Gray, Tim Watts, Michelle Anderson and Shane Adamczak this piece explored the theme of conquering fears in young people with the philosophy that once you know how something works there is less to fear. The performance revolved around a boy packing boxes as if he was moving house when strange things start happening to the boxes. At the end there was a very cool surprise that the kids loved!!!

Sensory Project
Developed by artists Amber Onat Gregory, Francis Italiano, Rebecca Bradley and Sarah Nelson. This piece was an innovative and unique sensory performance for young people experiencing learning difficulties, which told the story of the Jub Jub Tree. The audience were invited to join the performers on stage and throughout the performance they were offered objects that aligned with the narrative to touch, taste, hear and smell.

“My most magical moment was on a beach holiday with my family. I went shell hunting and stuck my arm between two rocks to get a shell when a huge octopus grabbed my arm! My Dad pulled me out but I am stunned at the whole experience to this day.”

We are excited to announce the appointment of Sarah Dalziel as our new Marketing and Audience Development Manager.

Originally from Invercargill, New Zealand Sarah has enjoyed the warmth of Australia since 2003 and the intense heat of Perth for the last 4 years.

Starting work in media agencies in Sydney and progressing to a full service advertising agency in Perth, Sarah began working with arts organisations last year.  Sarah is a member of Made on the Left who promote WA designers. She looks forward to using her broad experience at Barking Gecko.

We are delighted to have Sarah as part of our Gecko team.    

The Marketing and Audience Development Manager is integral to the continuing success of Barking Gecko and is primarily responsible for:

• Imaginative, efficient and timely promotions, communications and marketing across all of Barking Gecko's areas of operations

• Strategic development and implementation of marketing and audience development initiatives

Download full position description

Applications are due COB Thursday 3rd December 2009

Please address applications to:

Katherine McLean

General Manager

Barking Gecko Theatre Company

katherine @ barkinggecko.com.au  

180 Hamersley Rd, Subiaco, WA, 6008 

Young audience laps up words of wisdom

Three misfit, iconic Aussie marsupials must face their innermost fears and take on the challenges set by the unscrupulous organisers of a TV reality show. Either that, or face the mysterious “vicious beast” which is prowling outside the electric security fence and threatens to savage them.

In the relative safety of the Pouch Potato Wildlife Park, Pat the Quokka, Bunji’ Roo and Fatty Wombat, relax, watch TV and make jokes at the expense of one another’s little neuroses. Their apple cart is upset when they notice they are the only animals left at the park, which has closed down for lack of money. Faced with the responsibility of digging a tunnel to escape, Fatty Wombat - Sean Walsh maximising the laughs with his portrayal of the chubby, exercise-averse, junk-food addict - opts to enter Team Marsupial in the reality TV show Natural Selection for a chance to win the habitat and food of their choice.

Benj D’Addario is delightful as the anxious little Quokka, Pat. Haunted by a distressing incident of quokka soccer, which has left him with a phobia of being touched, Pat nevertheless is the motivator for the group willing to sacrifice himself for his furry friends.

Bunji’ Roo lost her mother in a car accident, she clings for comfort to the sack she was brought up in and suffers occasional lapses in mental faculties because of a bump on the head. Ella Hetherington employs ample necessary bounce and pathos in bringing Bunji to life.

This charming and funny piece from veteran children’s theatre writer Justin Cheek and director Jeremy Rice contains words of wisdom for its young audiences about healthy exercise and the dangers of a poor diet. For those immune to work-outs and mung beans the message is served with a side of witty gags, slapstick clowning and catchy tunes.

The young audience was lapping up the slightly risqué gags. “I think I just poo’d my pants,” brought screams of delight and the adults appreciated the more sophisticated comic morsels thrown their way. The pace, length, tone and style were faultless from start to finish.

The script remained focused on the moral objective, narrative embellishments served as concise character builders and all threads were neatly tied up. The whole target audience – five to 12-year- olds – will have something worthwhile to take away from this excellent, lively and energetic production.

Workshop Details
Wednesday 30th of September
9.30 am - 10.30 am workshop (ages five to eight) - prior to the 11 am show
Subiaco Arts Centre, 180 Hamersley Road, Subiaco

Show Details
Fatty Wombat is running throughout the October school holidays, for more information visit our Shows page here.

Workshop places are limited and expected to fill up fast, to book contact the City of Subiaco on 9237 9222. You must advice the date of the Fatty Wombat production your children are attending when booking places for the workshop.

Download the colouring contest and terms here

All entries will be on display at the Subiaco Arts Centre during the October school holiday Fatty Wombat season. The winning entry will receive a Barking Gecko Prize Pack, including four tickets to the show.

Entries close 18 September 2009.

Good luck and have fun!

The question: Approximately how many trees are destroyed each year worldwide to dry tobacco?

Answer: 600 million

Good luck to all those who participated. The winner will be notified my mail by 13 April 2009.

Offering tickets to these families would not have been feasible without the generous support of Healthway - Thank you!