For the first time in Australia, Erth presents the Broadway version of their internationally acclaimed Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo. Sophisticated, realistic puppetry reverses extinction to the delight of dinosaur lovers. Meet, and maybe even feed, one of your favourite prehistoric creatures in this intimate, interactive hands-on theatre experience. Insightful and enchanting, this show will thrill paleontologists aged five to 65 million years.
We asked Artistic Director of Erth, Scott Wright, a few questions about ‘Dinosaur Zoo’ which is coming to Adelaide as part of the 2016 Adelaide Arts Festival.
It seems an almost inevitable attraction that kids have with dinosaurs, were you fascinated with pre-historic creatures as a kid?
When I was a kid there was a very limited number of dinosaurs that were known of, or at least part of popular language. So to be honest, dinosaurs never featured as a topic that I was particularly obsessed with as a kid.
I did have a big brontosaurus made by my Dad and Grandfather out of coat hanger wire and paper mache which followed me around from one house to another – we moved quite frequently for a while – it dissolved in a pile of much loved paper pulp.
Why do you think dinosaurs are so popular with children?
Children are fascinated with the world regardless, but to have a perspective of what it was like when there weren’t any humans, is quite an interesting concept. Besides, dinosaurs look cool, and there are so many that it involves new languages, geology, natural history, and animal behaviour. Dinosaurs are such a gate way to learning and relationships.
At Play & Go we love seeing kids engaging in the arts and sciences, Erth’s productions bring together a great combination of the two.
Is engaging the young scientists and artists of the future important to you? and if so why?
I think children are very wise, more so than most adults, so why not present hard science and complex ideas to children? They feed on knowledge and when they have that information they share it and distribute it amongst each other. Children have their own culture which only they understand. I think it is a great privilege to make work for children, I’m very glad they like what we do.
Last year Earth bought a smaller version of ‘Dinosaur Zoo’ to the Fringe Festival, how is this year’s show at the Adelaide Festival of Arts different?
This version is bigger and better. We have more dinosaurs, as well as cameras on stage so you can see in more detail some of features of the dinosaurs as projections. We are also including a new dinosaur (a triceratops) which has never been seen in Australia. The whole show has increased production values and is like putting the audience’s experience on steroids. The audio and lighting is far more detailed. There’s also a few surprises which we will keep up our sleeves!
The puppets in the shows look incredible, Is it a team effort to create each creature? How long do they take to create?
We have a great team that over the years have spent huge amounts of time researching and designing our dinosaurs. Whenever we build a new one we always improve on anything we’ve previously done, so it’s a constantly evolving, beautiful process that allows us to give our audiences such wonderful creatures to experience.
Erth’s Dinosaur Zoon will be in Adelaide between 27 Feb – 6 Mar 2016 as part of the Adelaide Arts Festival.
Click here to find out about more great family shows and events being held during the festival.
For more information and to book tickets please visit the Adelaide Arts Festival website
What: Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo
When: season runs between 27 Feb – 6 Mar 2016
Where: Norwood Town Hall
Who: Paleontologists aged five to 65 million years.
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
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