Barking Gecko Theatre Brings Shaun Tan's Book CICADA to Life on Stage Next Month

This July Barking Gecko Theatre brings lauded WA storyteller Shaun Tan's masterpiece to life with exquisite puppetry and visual storytelling. Winner of the Children's Book Council Award for Best Picture Book in 2019, it has been adapted for the stage by Barking Gecko's Artistic Director Luke Kerridge and leading theatre makers Arielle Gray and Tim Watts.

It is the tale of a dutiful cicada who works away in a grey office. Overlooked and unappreciated by his co-workers, Cicada weaves a dream of escape, keeping his secrets hidden until the day something truly extraordinary begins to happen. A small story of epic proportions, Cicada is an enchanting tale of difference, resilience and the light we all have inside ourselves.

"It is a thrill and a privilege to be adapting Shaun Tan's most recent masterpiece for the stage. Barking Gecko has a history of theatrical adaptations of Shaun's work and we are thrilled to be continuing the tradition. Shaun expertly distilled the story of Cicada into his finished book, but he has generously shared early draft ideas and sketches for us to expand upon. These sketches provided us with some brilliant and inspiring new scenes, and it is exciting to think some of Shaun's ideas will now live on in another form." Luke Kerridge said.

"Arielle and Tim are theatrical genius's and rightly two of WA's most celebrated artists. Their work is acclaimed around the world. It is an absolute joy to be working with them, alongside a cracker team of Perth's most exciting emerging artists. Tim and Arielle will perform part of the season, alongside our stellar alternate cast of Tamara Creasy and Imanuel Dado. Following the Perth Premiere, Cicada will fly off on a regional tour of WA."

As part of the creative development process, Barking Gecko have workshopped Cicada with hundreds of children across WA. The Cicada Experience community engagement workshops took place in Albany, Broome, Esperance, Geraldton, Harvey, Margaret River, Midland and Mingenew across 2021 & 2022. Led by Barking Gecko Teaching Artists, the workshops encouraged children to explore the themes of Cicada and concluded with participants presenting a showing to parents and families. The Cicada regional tour will be visiting some of these locations later in the year, with children able to see how their input helped shape the production. The Cicada Experience was made possible by federal government funding under the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund.

More information and all booking details at www.barkinggecko.com.au/cicada

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