Wonderbox

Sensorium Theatre

Sensorium Theatre leads Australia in the creation of unique, artistically excellent, sensory theatre designed with and for children and young people with living with disability. All Sensorium Theatre’s work is rigorously co-designed with their target audience of children living with disability in partnership with a network of specialist schools and education support centres in Western Australia.

The creative seeds of Sensorium Theatre were planted in 2010 when Francis Italiano and Michelle Hovane developed their first sensory theatre project, The Jub Jub Tree, auspiced by Barking Gecko Theatre Company. The work was developed further in 2011, through an artist residency at Carson Street School, which specialises in education for students with intellectual and complex disability. The inclusive and collaborative creative development process piloted in 2011 at Carson Street sits at the heart of Sensorium’s methodology today, and The Jub Jub Tree successfully introduced Sensorium Theatre to schools in WA, supported by Performing Lines WA.

In 2013, using this two-way experiential dramaturgical process, Sensorium Theatre developed a new work OddySea, which toured metropolitan schools and was presented in its first public venue performance at Mandurah Performing Arts Centre in 2014, before touring to the Sydney Opera House and the Arts Centre Melbourne in 2015; a landmark in Australia’s accessible arts presentation. With its inspirational sets and costume and original musical score OddySea delighted audiences; toured WA and Australia in 2016 and 2017; was nominated for Helpmann Awards in both 2016 and 2018; and was presented internationally at the Big Umbrella Festival, Lincoln Centre, New York, and The Artground, Singapore. Since then, Sensorium Theatre has created a highly acclaimed interactive intergalactic adventure, WHOOSH! which toured regionally and nationally; and in March 2023, Wonderbox, a fourth multi-sensory work, commissioned by Perth Festival premiered to audience and critical acclaim.

    ABOUT THE PROJECT

    Sensorium Theatre, Australia’s only theatre company making work specifically designed for young audiences with disability and their friends, invites children to roll the dice and set out along a safe, exhilarating pathway into the unknown. Inside a giant puzzle-box of illusions, kooky-carnival friends with magic in their pockets lead audiences into an immersive multi-sensory wonderland of fantastical large-scale projections, strange tiny delights and infectious live music.

    Every child’s curiosity is celebrated and rewarded with wondrous surprises. The discovery is the journey. As boxes reveal boxes within boxes, each child is given the opportunity to find a magical version of themselves. Inside the Wonderbox, micro-moments of whole worlds in a matchbox lead into macro universes where everyone, their face reflected in the stars of the Milky Way, is revealed as wonderful.

    Wonderbox is a 60 minute work tailored for 15 young participants (ages 8+), accompanied by a friend, parent or carer (full size audience of up to 30). Wonderbox is led by a cast of 7, who take the children on this wondrous journey of curiosity and choice. It premiered at Perth Festival in 2023 to much acclaim from participants, their teachers, parents and carers, industry peers, and reviewers.

    Session Times
    PROFILE: Here’s What We Made
    Thursday 8 June, 10:00am & 5:30pm AEST

    CONTACT

    Melanie Julien-Martial
    melanie@performinglineswa.org.au