WHOOSH! Kicks Off at Sensorium Theatre For Students With Disabilities

Sensorium Theatre makes magical multi-sensory, immersive theatre for children with disability. They are the only company in Australia focusing on this vital work for a much-overlooked audience.

The artists commenced rehearsals today at Kenwick School for their show WHOOSH! that puts children with disability at the centre of action. Kids board a stunning custom-built spaceship to co-pilot an interstellar adventure.

Co-Artistic Director Frankie Italiano said, 'Back in 2015 we asked students from Kalamunda Primary Education Support Centre, who were big fans of our adventures into the forest & under the sea, where they'd like us to take them next. Take us to outer space! they demanded. In the 5 years since our residency with those excited kids, playing with cardboard, gaffer tape & tin-foil, the show has developed significantly! Last October the eyes of these teens widened with amazement as the world they'd originally helped dream up unfurled around them in a high-tech whirl of projections, surround-sound & sensor-activated magic.'

New recruits take up their own tech stations, taste real space food, propel through hyperdrive, crash-land, and explore a strange uncharted planet. Characters and audience work as a team to repair the ship and return to Earth.

This highly-tailored production is suitable for children aged 6 - 12 with a broad range of access needs, including those with multiple and complex needs and those on the autism spectrum.

Supported by the Crown Resorts and Packer Family Foundations, this Imaginate Local Tour of WHOOSH! will play to 480 children with disability from 13 schools, touching down at Kenwick School, Meadow Springs Education Support Centre, and Sir David Brand School over the next 6 weeks. With support from the City of Armadale, there will also be 1 public performance of WHOOSH! as part of Armadale Arts Festival, at 4.30pm on Thursday May 13th at Armadale District Hall. Tickets are $20 for kids, and free for carers and bookings can be made online at www.trybooking.com/BPIXH

Whoosh! is produced by Sensorium Theatre and supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body; and the WA Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and Lotterywest. This production was made possible with the generous support of the Cassandra Gantner Foundation and the James Galvin Foundation. This tour is supported by the Crown Resorts and Packer Family Foundations through the Perth Education Arts Initiative.

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