One of Queensland Theatre's Best Productions!
Queensland Theatre's adaptation of the much-beloved Australian story, Storm Boy (by Colin Thiele), is as exquisite and heart-warming as the original book. The story follows 'Storm Boy' (Conor Lowe), living on a secluded beach in South Australia with only his temperamental, but loving father 'Hideaway Tom' (John Batchelor) and his hilarious friend 'Fingerbone Bill' (Tony Briggs). When Storm Boy finds three orphaned pelicans alone in their nest, he dedicates his time to raising and caring for the birds. While the story may be familiar to most Australians, Queensland Theatre's production (adapted by Tom Holloway) brings new life to the story, yet remains just as poignant.
When I first saw there was to be a stage adaptation of the famous novel, my first thought was: how exactly were they going to train three pelicans to perform on stage? The answer is more straightforward and yet more artistic than you may think. Queensland Theatre's Storm Boy utilises beautiful and intricate puppetry (designed by David Morton), combined with well-designed lighting (Matt Scott), to bring the pelicans to life. The cast also features cute, little fairy penguins that pattern along the stage and a snake who’s slithering seemed impossibly real. The animals are expertly brought to life by puppeteers Ellen Bailey, Emily Burton, and Drew Wilson. The beach stage feels alive and transports you to the small cove where the emotional story unfolds.
Directed by Sam Strong, Queensland Theatre's moving version of Storm Boy is not to be missed. The audience was captivated by the soaring elegance of Mr Percival, sighed at the beautiful beach imagery projected onto the stage, and laughed along to Fingerbone Bill's many cracker-style jokes. Storm Boy is gorgeous from beginning to end and one of Queensland Theatre's best productions this year.
Playhouse Theatre, QPAC
29th July-7th August, 2019
Jasmine Regan Feldman