Diary of a Wombat National Tour – 2017

Diary of a Wombat is touring Australia!

This mammoth 59-venue tour (our largest to date) kicks off at Riverside Theatres in Parramatta on 21 March and visits every state in the country concluding in Bunbury, Western Australia in November.

Millions of young people have adored the award-winning picture book, Diary of a Wombat. Now this iconic story about Mothball, Australia’s naughtiest wombat is coming to the stage!

Monkey Baa Director, Eva Di Cesare and a team of revered artists including Alice Osborne (War Horse) use the magic of live music and puppetry to bring this exquisite story to the stage.

Click on the tour dates tab for venue locations and dates!

 

NSW
ParramattaRiverside Theatres21 March - 22 March
LiverpoolCasula Powerhouse Arts Centre23 March - 24 March
TareeManning Entertainment Centre27 March - 28 March
Port MacquarieGlasshouse30 March - 30 March
WyongThe Art House, Wyong Shire Performing Arts & Conference Centre01 April - 01 April
NowraShoalhaven Entertainment Centre05 April - 05 April
BermaguiBermagui Community Centre08 April - 08 April
WollongongIllawarra Performing Arts Centre - IMB Theatre11 April - 12 April
SydneyLendlease Darling Quarter Theatre18 April - 24 April
TamworthCapitol Theatre Tamworth27 April - 28 April
GosfordLaycock Street Theatre01 May - 02 May
CootamundraCootamundra Creative Arts & Cultural Centre - Tin Shed Theatre05 May - 05 May
LeetonLeeton Roxy Community Theatre09 May - 09 May
GriffithGriffith Regional Theatre12 May - 13 May
DubboDubbo Regional Theatre16 May - 17 May
NarrabriCrossing Theatre19 May - 19 May
SydneyLendlease Darling Quarter Theatre23 May - 27 May
PenrithJoan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre30 May - 30 May
OrangeOrange Civic Theatre01 June - 02 June
BelroseGlen Street Theatre07 June - 10 June
Wagga WaggaWagga Wagga Civic Theatre20 June - 21 June
ACT
CanberraCanberra Theatre Centre15 June - 17 June
VIC
WodongaThe Cube Wodonga22 June - 23 June
Moonee PondsClocktower Centre05 July - 05 July
RingwoodKarralyka Theatre07 July - 07 July
WarburtonArts Centre Warburton12 July - 12 July
HealesvilleThe Memo Healesville14 July - 14 July
SheppartonRiverlinks - Eastbank Centre18 July - 18 July
WarragulWest Gippsland Arts Centre20 July - 21 July
ColacColac Otway Performing Arts & Cultural Centre24 July - 25 July
WarrnamboolLighthouse Theatre26 July - 27 July
PortlandPortland Arts Centre31 July - 31 July
HamiltonHamilton Performing Arts Centre02 August - 02 August
BallaratHer Majesty's Theatre04 August - 04 August
FrankstonFrankston Arts Centre08 August - 08 August
WerribeeWyndham Cultural Centre10 August - 10 August
GeelongGeelong Performing Arts Centre12 August - 12 August
SA
Oaklands ParkMarion Cultural Centre26 June - 27 June
Golden GroveGolden Grove Arts Centre29 June - 30 June
TAS
LauncestonPrincess Theatre15 August - 16 August
DevonportDevonport Entertainment & Convention Centre18 August - 18 August
HobartTheatre Royal22 August - 23 August
QLD
CairnsTanks Arts Centre01 September - 01 September
ToowoombaEmpire Theatre04 September - 04 September
LoganLogan Entertainment Centre07 September - 08 September
Gold CoastThe Arts Centre Gold Coast11 September - 13 September
ClevelandRedland Performing Arts Centre16 September - 16 September
Sunshine CoastLake Kawana Community Centre19 September - 19 September
MackayMackay Entertainment & Convention Centre26 September - 26 September
TownsvilleRiverway Arts Centre28 September - 29 September
RockhamptonPilbeam Theatre03 October - 04 October
Mount IsaMount Isa Civic Centre10 October - 10 October
NT
Alice SpringsAraluen Arts Centre13 October - 13 October
DarwinDarwin Entertainment Centre19 October - 19 October
WA
CarnarvonCarnvarvon Civic Centre24 October - 24 October
CrawleyUniversity Theatre - Octagon Theatre28 October - 28 October
EsperanceEsperance Civic Centre31 October - 31 October
Margaret RiverMargaret River Cultural Centre02 November - 03 November
BunburyBunbury Regional Entertainment Centre06 November - 07 November
NSW
SydneyLendlease Darling Quarter Theatre16 April - 12 May
diary of a wombat at monkey baa bar theatre company jackie french book to stage adaptation childrens theatre sydney

Eva Di Cesare

Director

Eva Di Cesare is one of the founding members of Monkey Baa Theatre Company. She has co-adapted and performed in many of the company's productions including The Bugalugs Bum Thief, Worry Warts and Pearlie in the Park. She has also adapted Sprung!, the Helpmann Award-winning plays Hitler’s Daughter and Thursday's Child, Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat, I Am Jack, Goodbye Jamie Boyd, Emily Eyefinger and Pete the Sheep. In 2012, Eva developed and facilitated the Discover the Stage - Digital Drama Workshops for the Sydney Opera House. Eva recently co adapted Snugglepot and Cuddlepie for CDP, co-wrote and directed Simon Tedeschi: Pianist and Prankster and co-adapted The Peasant Prince based on Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin.

diary of a wombat at monkey baa bar theatre company jackie french book to stage adaptation childrens theatre sydney

Alice Osborne

Puppetry & Movement Director

Alice Osborne is a theatre maker who works collaboratively as a puppeteer, director, performer and movement artist. She was the Resident Puppetry and Movement Director for the Australian production of War Horse. As dancer/ puppeteer, Alice was a member of Compagnie Philippe Genty (Paris) for two and a half years, touring internationally with the work, Boliloc. In Australia she worked extensively with award winning company, My Darling Patricia. In 2015 she created the dance theatre work, Falling Woman with Halcyon Macleod as part of Performance Space's Buruwan (Island) season. Alice worked as Puppetry and Movement Director on The Splinter by Hilary Bell for Sydney Theatre Company in 2012. Other companies she has collaborated with include Polyglot, Erth, Urban Theatre Projects.

imogen ross production designer of diary of a wombat at monkey baa bar theatre company jackie french book to stage adaptation childrens theatre sydney

Imogen Ross

Set & Costume Designer

Imogen Ross has worked professionally as a performance and event designer for the last 23 years. She trained as a production designer at WAAPA after majoring in Theatre Studies at UNE. Since 1993 she has designed and/or coordinated over 50 plays, operas, musicals, dance pieces, corporate events, short films and commercial television pieces. Imogen has a long standing creative relationship with Monkey Baa, designing The Prospectors, Hitler’s Daughter, Millie, Jack and the Dancing Cat and Thursday’s Child. Over a decade with Shopfront Theatre for Young People, Imogen has designed and mentored CALD young performers on a range of site-specific productions. She is a well-known teacher with NIDA, Belvoir St, Merrigong, BAC, Shopfront, DET schools and The Arts Unit.

oonagh sherrard lighting designer of diary of a wombat at monkey baa bar theatre company jackie french book to stage adaptation childrens theatre sydney

Oonagh Sherrard

Composer

Oonagh Sherrard has been creating music and sound works for theatre, film, dance, radio, installation and live performance for 20 years. She studied composition with Peter Sculthorpe, Ross Edwards and Ann Boyd at Sydney University and Literature and Theatre at Macquarie University. Recent work includes sound design for National Theatre of Parramatta’s The Cartographer’s Curse, composer/sound designer for Circa’s When One Door Closes (La Boite 2016), composer and cellist in Urban Theatre Projects’ The Tribe (Belvoir 2016; Sydney Festival 2016) AND composer for multiplatform documentary, Retrospect: War, Family, Afghanistan with ABC Online, ABC RN and UNSW iCnema (2015).

matt cox lighting designer of diary of a wombat at monkey baa bar theatre company jackie french book to stage adaptation childrens theatre sydney

Matt Cox

Lighting Designer

Matt’s career in theatre has spanned 15 years designing lighting in both Australia and the UK. During his time in London, Matt worked with student directors attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and John Stahl’s solo show, Blindman. Since returning to Sydney he has designed numerous theatre productions including Blak, Belong (Bangarra Dance Theatre), Reflections on Gallipoli (Australian Chamber Orchestra), Romeo and Juliet (Bell Shakespeare), Ruby Moon (Sydney Theatre Company), The Mousetrap and A Murder is Announced (Louise Withers and Associates), The Seed (Company B), Symphony (Legs on the Wall) and many more. Matt currently tutors for the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).

kingsley reeve sound designer designer of diary of a wombat at monkey baa bar theatre company jackie french book to stage adaptation childrens theatre sydney

Kingsley Reeve

Sound Designer

Kingsley graduated from the Sound discipline at WAAPA in 1995 as a sound designer and then from the Theatre discipline in 1998 as an actor. He has been designing sound and music since his youth. He forges collaborative relationships with countless theatre makers in Australia and abroad. He is currently head of Audio at NIDA. He is the recipient of several industry awards for sound and music design. Credits include Monkey Tales, Pete the Sheep and Goodbye Jamie Boyd (Monkey Baa); Off the Record (Force Majeure); Home (PIAF 2016); Thomas Murray and the Upside Down River (Stone Soup) and Storm Boy, Ruby Moon, The Mysteries: Genesis and August: Osage County (Sound Realiser) for Sydney Theatre Company.

diary of a wombat at monkey baa bar theatre company jackie french book to stage adaptation childrens theatre sydney

Bryony Anderson

Puppet Design & Construction

Bryony Anderson is a designer, maker, artist and wannabe scientist based in the forested hills of NSW. Her puppets and constructions for visual performance have toured nationally and internationally with many Australian circus, puppetry, visual performance and theatre companies, as well as appearing in museums, festivals and documentaries. Solo exhibitions have ranged from interactive puppetry and handmade projection machinery to intricate illustration. She has conducted workshops in communities around Australia and in 2011 began working with her local community to seed a creative industry of skilled artisans making high calibre work from frugal resources. oneoffmakery.net.au

Cast Profile

Sandra Eldridge

Concept Team

Sandra Eldridge is one of the Creative Directors and founders of Monkey Baa. A WAAPA acting graduate, she also has a Master of Arts (Practice) for directing CSU. For Monkey Baa she has adapted and performed in Worry Warts, Sprung! The Fairy’s Wings, The Bugalugs Bum Thief and Emily Eyefinger and adapted Goodbye Jamie Boyd, Hitler’s Daughter, Milli, Jack and The Dancing Cat, FOX, I Am Jack, Thursday’s Child and Pete the Sheep. Sandie has been acting in theatre, film, TV and radio for over 30 years. In 2016 she wrote and starred in The Unknown Soldier to honour the Centenary of WW1.

Tim McGarry headshot Monkey Baa Creative Director and Producer

Tim McGarry

Concept Team

Tim McGarry is one of the Creative Directors and founders of Monkey Baa. A graduate of WAAPA, Tim has co-adapted many Australian novels for Monkey Baa including Thursday’s Child, Goodbye Jamie Boyd, Worry Warts, Milli Jack and the Dancing Cat, Hitler’s Daughter, I Am Jack and Emily Eyefinger. Other writing projects include the ‘US’ Project, a program funded by the Australia Council developing theatre stories with disenfranchised youth in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Tim co-wrote four works for the Sydney Opera House’s 2013 Baby Proms Season. He looks forward to directing The Peasant Prince for Monkey Baa in 2015.

diary of a wombat at monkey baa bar theatre company jackie french book to stage adaptation childrens theatre sydney

Eva Di Cesare

Concept Team

michael cullen headshot diary of a wombat cast monkey baa bar theatre company tour 2017

Michael Cullen

Performer

Whether it’s Wombat, WarHorse or Workshop, Michael’s true joy is in sharing stories that allow us to step outside of ourselves and see the world anew. He has worked in Australia, Europe, East Timor, Brazil and China. Theatre credits include his debut, award winning one-man show The Best Corn Chip In The Universe, Macbeth and Taming Of The Shrew for Sport For Jove Theatre, WarHorse, Construction of The Human Heart, Closer (Apocalypse Theatre), ERTH’s Dinosaur Zoo and The Frail Man. Film/TV credits include TIMELESS, Tricky Business, Underbelly-RAZOR, Packed To The Rafters, Home and Away and Shelling Peas. He loves creating positive, transformative opportunities for himself and his audience.

sam hickey from diary of a wombat jackie french monkey baa bar theatre company 2017 tour

Samantha Hickey

Performer

Samantha Hickey has dedicated herself over the past ten years to exploring all facets of theatre and storytelling, from classic texts to puppetry and physical theatre. She has worked and performed in Australia, America, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand. Samantha is the cofounder and co-Artistic Director of Sight By Storm. The company create and produce experimental and visual theatre and are currently developing their next show. Samantha is keenly interested in exploring the process and techniques of how stories are told. Other theatre credits include Dinosaur Zoo (Erth), Spirit Creatures (Erth), Murder (Erth) and Arquitectura de Feria (Sydney Festival) Leaves (KXT), When the Rain Stops Falling, (New Theatre), Blue Italian/Nil By Sea (Site and Sound) The God of Hell, (Old

shondelle pratt diary of a wombat tour jackie french monkey baa bar theatre company childrens theatre in sydney

Shondelle Pratt

Performer

Shondelle is a Sydney based actor. A graduate of Ensemble Acting Studios, with a Degree in Theatre Theory and Practise from The University of Western Sydney, Shondelle has worked on a number of film, television and theatre productions. Her theatre credits include Wombat’s Wild Adventure (Em’s Entertainment), Nothing to Lose (Force Majuere), Man of La Mancha, Trailer Park the Musical, A New Brain (Squabbalogic), Bear Hunt, Showtime, Snoopy The Musical (Ensemble Theatre) and Bully Busters (Class Act TIE). In order to fully prepare for her role in Diary of a Wombat, Shondelle ate lots of carrots, had many dust baths and scratched and scratched, and scratched.

mary rapp headshot cellist diary of a wombat monkey bar baa theatre company tour 2017

Mary Rapp

Cellist

Australian cellist/double bassist/vocalist, Mary Rapp is a multidisciplinary musician who has gained wide acclaim for her distinctive approach, which integrates jazz, experimental, classical, and regional music traditions. Mary’s work as both performer and composer is regularly featured in a range of ensemble settings such as Ensemble Offspring and the Australian Art Orchestra. She has performed nationally and internationally as a part of festivals such as the Sydney Festival and at venues such as the Opera House. She was a featured artist at the 2015 Woman’s International Jazz Festival. Mary’s practice defies categorisation; indeed she works in the spaces between categories, genres, and cultures.

Cast Profile

Katelyn Shaw

Associate Sound Designer

Cast Profile

Greg Davis

Production Manager

As with other Monkey Baa Theatre Company productions, this beautiful work is for young people but it does not talk down to them.
Broadway World

Narrated by cello and brought to life beautifully by Mothball’s puppetry, this is a delightful little play.
The AU Review

Diary of a Wombat is a must see!
Talking Arts

As a children’s author, a reviewer and above all, a mother, it was a joy to behold.
Weekend Notes

A sure winner for its targeted audiences, and their adult carers, too.
Kevin Jackson’s Theatre Diary

Who better exists in children’s theatre circles than director Eva Di Cesare and the insightful Monkey Baa team to respectfully transform this classic to the stage for the 3+ age group.
Sydney Arts Guide

Entrust anything to the creative team at Monkey Baa Theatre and they will sprinkle their magic across the book and make it come to life.
Kinderling Kids Radio

My 2-year-old was mesmerised, my 7-year-old laughed out loud.
Kidsize Living

Children’s theatre company Monkey Baa has worked its magic with this delightful adaptation of Diary of A Wombat.
Sunday Telegraph

This show is a winner for the little kid theatre set.
Adventure, Baby

Click here for the ‘Diary of a Wombat’ teacher resource.