Q&A with the Understudies: Catherine and Katherine

Touring with Where is the Green Sheep? has taken the company across Australia, sharing the magic of live theatre with young audiences and communities nationwide. Behind the scenes, understudies Katherine Munro and Catherine McNamara travel alongside the team, ready to step in at a moment’s notice while also connecting with children through workshops and performances. We caught up with them to hear about life on the road, the highlights of the tour and why this work matters to them.

How has your experience been touring with Monkey Baa?

Katherine: Touring with Monkey Baa has given me the opportunity to see parts of Australia I would never have thought to visit. I have travelled the world performing but hadn't explored my own backyard until now. It's been a great experience to visit these small regional towns and to see the impact that live theatre has on these communities. Having the opportunity to meet some of the families through the workshops and seeing them leave with a big smile after their experience is something that can't be matched. I also ticked off a bucket list item by being able to perform at the Sydney Opera House, what a joy and privilege that was.

Catherine: Beautiful! I love touring, the vast changes you get to witness across this continent (and its many countries), from tropical rainforest, to red dirt, to white sands, to watchful mountains. And the privilege of meeting some of the people (and animals) who live there! The Green Sheep company is incredible and I have really enjoyed sharing some fun Monkey Baa workshops with children.

What have been the highlights of the tour so far?

Katherine: The highlight of my tour, aside from exploring the wonderful towns we visit, has been the amazing support from the cast and crew. Being the understudy has been tricky, as a majority of my rehearsals happen through observation and note taking. But when I did have the opportunity to organise some rehearsals on tour, the cast were so incredibly supportive. They were always there for me, guiding me on stage, assisting me with direction and giving me the time to implement what I needed to do. If the cast and crew are reading this... thank you, thank you, thank you! Such an amazing team. The Monkey Baa family are such wonderful people who love theatre just as much as I do :)

Catherine: This is definitely the first time I have toured since having my daughter (now 2 y.o.). One highlight was having her (and my mum) join me for a week on tour and getting to watch the show. She put my sunglasses on her head during Sun Sheep and also started doing all the same gestures as the farmers, looking for that green sheep! I'm very grateful that Monkey Baa is such a family-friendly company.

Catherine’s daughter showing her Sun Sheep after the show

Why is this work important to you?

Catherine: It is so special to watch it work so well. Which is of course credit to Eva and the team's huge amount of consideration, research and effort that has gone into it. To hear the children yell out the next sheep in anticipation and to see them delight in the antics of each cheeky sheep, I could experience that forever. The way the child audience seamlessly joins in with the narration of the Bankstown West students is really clever, but natural and respectful. This work hands the spoken text over to the children, the experts. As a physical performer and puppeteer, I'm always invested in exploring what other modes of communication are possible outside of simply speaking. So the respect this work pays to the way that children utilise movement, rhythms, humour and spatial connections to create whole worlds is awesome!

Katherine: I was so lucky throughout my life to have seen live theatre from a young age. I danced and performed, and I also saw my uncle perform in many theatre productions. Theatre and live performance have since been a part of my life and to share that with these communities brings me joy. With so many things going on in this world, I often wonder what I can do. My favourite thing is having that small impact, in the hope that one person will tell their friends, and their friends and so on. Those small moments, the stories that someone will share as an adult about a production they saw as a kid, have power. They have impact and the ability to change someone.