The Augmented, a brand-new performance created by Spare Parts Puppet Theatre’s Associate Director Michael Barlow in collaboration with Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) performance makers, shows that puppetry is not just for kids.
“The Augmented takes a speculative leap into the future and imagines a new vision of the changing nature of humanity,” says Barlow. “We have been inspired and challenged by ideas from Artificial Intelligence and evolution, using object theatre and figure-based puppetry to tackle the big questions that AI presents for humanity.”
This originally devised puppetry and object theatre work is set to excite adult audiences and chill in equal measure, taking a journey into the shifting definition of what it is to be human and ‘real’.
“The Augmented gives audiences the chance to see some of WAAPA’s most exciting and creative performance makers in a large cast together for one last time before they graduate” says Barlow.
This is the seventh year that WAAPA’s graduating Bachelor of Performing Arts (BPA) students have been offered the opportunity to study puppetry through an ongoing partnership with Spare Parts Puppet Theatre.
“Puppetry is a great training tool to sensitise performers to the full potential of objects in performance and to develop the visual intelligence of our performance-makers.”- Dr Frances Barbe, Associate Dean Discipline: Performance at WAAPA.
This partnership is the only tertiary training program for puppetry in Australia and has produced both amazing performances and opportunities for WAAPA students to be employed. Multiple graduates have progressed from the puppetry unit to participating in further training or employment as puppeteers with Spare Parts Puppet Theatre and other companies.
The Augmented
SPARE PARTS PUPPET THEATRE, 1 Short St, Fremantle
Friday 19 and Saturday 20 February, 7.30pm
Suitable for ages 15 years+
BOOK NOW at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre on (08) 9355 5044