ViV! – is a children’s theatre (5-12yrs) show about an adventurous, tough and sassy girl who lives with disabilities and her little sister ‘Lil’. ViV! merges digital landscapes, puppetry and choreography with an original score played live. Our heroine, Viv, takes the audience on an immersive and sensory journey. She transports us into her imagination, to meet the quirky friends who surf her unique brainwaves and celebrate her for all her “ViVness”.
ViV! offers audiences the chance to meet a hero unlike they have seen before. It is a universal story about familial love, childhood play and how magical we appear in the eyes of our friends. It is a theatrical love letter to the writer, Cath McNamara’s real-life niece, and to all families where disability and inclusion is a fact of daily life. ViV! incorporates immersive audience interaction, switching between the beautiful tactile worlds of puppetry/ movement into highly technical digital projection.
Image: L-R: Phoebe Bucknell, Khari Conroy, Leanne Tobin, Cath McNamara, Rebecca Jones. Image credit: Melinda Nockles
Director Catherine McNamara has assembled a diverse creative team, and thanks to initial support from the Regional Arts Fund, Local Giants and Local Stages at BMEC, ViV! has undergone two creative developments and an industry showing which was received with warmth and excitement by audience and industry professionals alike.
For Stage 1 and 2 the team collaborated with a group of young adult women who are part of Compareo, the inclusive arts program at Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre led by Cath since its inception in 2020. ‘Compareo’ is Latin for “Be visible, Be present”. It aligns with ViV! in the aim to address the gap in representation of children with disabilities in Australian children’s theatre, particularly in our region of Central West NSW. ViV! is a show with an atypical hero and allows children and young people with disabilities to see themselves represented onstage.
As part of their performance training during the creative development, the Compareos learned AUSLAN, and made costumes and set pieces with community artist and facilitator, Fiona Howle. They also provided feedback at the end of the week as a way for Cath to test the performance ideas and processes.
“I had a great time. I want to be a puppeteer. I’m so excited I just can’t hide it I’m going to lose control and I like it!” Participant, Phoebe, 27 years. The Compareos are part of the cast of the show which will premiere in August 2025 at BMEC.
The ‘Work in Progress’ public showing for locals, carers, family members and industry representatives including Arts OutWest, Regional Arts NSW, Performing Lines, Performing Arts Centres (PAC) Australia in December 2023 was met with heartfelt responses from audience members with lived experience. “The craftful way in which these themes were brought to light (not swept under the rug or made light of) and even made humorous exactly reflects how so many within the inclusive community deal with everyday life through dark humour and resilience” Mother of young child living with a disability.
In exciting news ViV! has secured more funding to bring the show to the stage in 2025. Stay tuned as this beautiful show unfolds with more creative developments underway with the design team and actors. ViV! is supported by the Regional Arts Fund, Create NSW, Creative Australia, produced by Arts OutWest and supported by BMEC.
Contact: Kate Smith ArtsOutWest katesmith@csu.edu.au
Image: L-R: Phoebe Bucknell, Khari Conroy, Leanne Tobin, Cath McNamara, Rebecca Jones.
Image credit: Melinda Nockles
With special thanks and acknowledgement to:
