‘The Snow’

How do you portray a character on stage and convey emotions to viewers when the story demands the scene to be set in complete darkness?

I’m pleasantly surprised how shadows and shadow puppets can overcome the above constraints on stage.

As part of our drama class trip, I visited the Barking Gecko Theatre along with my school friends and our drama teacher. Barking Gecko Theatre is a professional theatre company for kids based in Western Australia. The theatre was established in 1982 in Perth.

The performance we watched was ‘The Snow’. It is a magical story of how young Thea Sutton overcomes her fears and tries to find a solution to save the village Kishka from a long, dark winter snowfall by building a catapult.

The play stars Grace Chow, Charlotte Otton, Andrea Gibbs, Isaac Diamond and many puppets.

I really enjoyed the play as it had a few bits of comedy and a likable story. The props used for the performance were impressive like the different types of puppets used: string puppets (marionette), rod puppets and shadow puppets.

String puppets are puppets controlled from above using strings. String puppets are also called marionette.

Rod puppets are operated using sticks or rods. The rods allow the puppeteer to move parts of the puppets like arms and legs.

Shadow puppets are placed in between a light source and a screen. The audience can see the silhouette of the puppets on the screen.

I’m looking forward to more shows by the Barking Gecko Theatre Company.