I WISH…

Children’s theatre company Patch Theatre has joined forces with cutting-edge circus company Gravity & Other Myths on a special production, presented at Araluen Arts Centre and at Darwin Festival this month.

^{By Shele Parker Black}

THEY WANT TO send kids a message – being your most unique, individual self is the best thing you can be.

Darcy Grant is Creative Director of Gravity & Other Myths, and says he and Geoff Cobham, Artistic Director of Patch Theatre, were excited to collaborate on new production, I Wish…

“I’d never been in the children’s theatre space and was delighted to be invited to collaborate this time round. It’s a great combo – world class acrobatics meets powerful theatre magic!’ he says.

Gravity & Other Myths is geared towards focusing on human connection and acrobatic virtuosity, and this collaboration with Patch Theatre is no exception. In I Wish… young audiences connect with one of the bigger questions – what are we really made of?

Both Grant and Cobham would reflect on all of the different things that determine peoples’ individuality, and signal to how kids reflect this better than anyone. This show doesn’t only ask questions about where our individuality comes from, but pushes us to embrace it, in ourselves and others.

“The work dives into these themes, in literal and absurd ways, that highlight the strange cocktail of qualities that create a human being. My belief is that the more accepting of our quirks we are, the more able to accept others we will be,” Grant says.

Without giving too much away, there’s something that most kids – perhaps not their parents – can get behind. Fart jokes. But in all seriousness, Grant says there’s so much more.

“Impossible physicality, sophisticated theatre magic. In two words, fun and wonder.”

With Patch Theatre and Gravity & Other Myths at the helm of this exciting production, we can no doubt expect gravity-defying acrobatics, stunning visuals, and playful humour. We can also trust that after seeing this show, young ones will bound out of the theatre feeling great about being exactly who they are. And that’s pretty great.

Alice Springs
WHEN FRI 9 AUG | 11AM & 6PM
AT ARALUEN ARTS CENTRE 
COST $29-$35
INFO araluenartscentre.nt.gov.au

Darwin
WHEN TUE 13 AUG | 6PM
AT DARWIN ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE
COST $25-$34
INFO darwinfestival.org.au

_{Photo: Andrew Beveridge}