Fox June 30, 2010

Fox, based on the story by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks is an enchanting new musical theatre work based on an award-winning Australian children’s book and is playing at Riverside Theatres on Thursday July 1 and Friday July 2 as part of Riverside’s Education Season.
Produced in association with Siren Theatre Co, Fox is a story of friendship, betrayal and transformation. During a perilous bush-fire, Dog with his missing eye rescues the injured Magpie. He nurses her back to life and they become firm friends. When a Fox appears, friendship and safety are threatened and Magpie must make a choice between her two companions.
“This highly acclaimed children’s story is brought to life by a wonderful array of theatrical techniques. The use of puppetry, projections and opera is a fantastic introduction to the theatre for children and sure to excite their senses. Fox is a wonderful show to have as part of our Education Season” said Director of Riverside Theatres Robert Love.
Directed by Kate Gaul, Fox features physical theatre, puppetry, shadow and movement work, projection, as well as a haunting operatic score by Daryl Wallis that is sung in its entirety by Sarah Jones. The performers David Buckley, Jay Gallagher and Jane Phegan tell the story of the three creatures through poetic and physical imagery.
”I was immediately struck by its mythic quality, its poetic text and sumptuous painted images. Much has been written about this book… The book’s drama wrought by time and space is rich material to adapt for the stage. The relationships between the characters, the landscape and the individual interiors are layered and complex… The use of puppets, projections and scale explore the theme of change by using transformation as a literal theatrical tool,” said Director Kate Gaul.
“This is not a story that speaks down to its audience… This inspired the musical palette for the story and a hybrid of musical forms arose – flashes of musical theatre and pop music references, operatic colours and intensity, jazz harmonies and the use of electronic sound-scape,” said Composer David Buckley.
Cast David Buckley, Jay Gallagher, Sarah Jones, Jane Phegan
Director Kate Gaul Original Music Daryl Wallis Designer Gabriela Tylesova
Puppetry Consultant Ingrid Maganov
Adapted by Eva Di Cesare, Sandra Eldridge and Tim McGarry
Duration 60 minutes plus Q&A Suitable for audiences aged 8+
FOX
at RIVERSIDE THEATRES, Cnr Church and Market Sts, Parramatta
DATES: Thurs 1 July at 10am and 12.30pm, Fri 2 July at 10am and 12.30pm
SINGLE TICKET PRICES: $13 per student/ additional teacher
BOOKINGS: Riverside Box Office 02 8839 3399 or www.riversideparramatta.com.au