Splat!

Splat! returns to Spare Parts Puppet Theatre this school holidays and is a high energy celebration of play, friendship and imagination.

Puppeteer actors, Rebecca Bradley, dressed in yellow and emerging from a triangle and Immanuel Dado, wearing red, with a penchant for squares, befriend  Yvan Karlsson, who wears blue and appears from a circle. Together they use dance, acrobatics clowning and puppetry to explore relationships between the objects around them and with each other, and at one stage take us on a mesmerising journey through space.

Expressive faced Rebecca Bradley, a veteran of the previous incarnation of Splat! finds a renewed energy with her new castmates and the show feels more fresh, tighter and cleaner than its already lovely predecessor.

This wordless production is suitable for all ages, but elicited squeals of delight and excited running commentary from the 3 to 6 year olds in the audience, who loved the slapstick, but were also rapt in the magic of the gentle ‘space’ scene.

Writer Sally Richardson has created a nice blend of themes, brought vibrantly to life in bright primary colours by designer Cecile Williams and puppet maker Jiri Zmitko. Andrew Lake’s lighting helps to make ‘magic’ while Lee Buddle’s score provides a bright emotive accompaniment.

Splat! is a perfect holiday treat for young people - especially combined with a visit to the nearby Fremantle Winter Festival. A brilliant, uplifting experience for all.

Kimberley Shaw

Photographer: Jessica Wyld