A mesmerising tale of life, love, and the power and mystery of memory is the focus of the latest theatrical collaboration between Spare Parts Puppet Theatre (SPPT) and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), when the 2023 3rd Year Performance Making students present The Memory Palaces for three performances only from November 10 at the Ellie Eaton Theatre at the Claremont Showgrounds.
The Memory Palaces is the latest production in the long-term partnership begun in 2015 with the celebrated performing arts academy and acclaimed puppetry company, which sees WAAPA’s 3rd Year Performance Making students, as part of the Bachelor of Performing Arts degree, prepare their graduating production utilising the unique visual magic and story-telling power of puppetry.
Directed by Spare Parts Puppet Theatre Associate Director Michael Barlow and written by student Dee Waddingham, The Memory Palaces is a mesmerising new work of visual theatre inspired by ancient methods of recall that have left traces on cultures around the globe.
Barlow said that The Memory Palaces imagines the act of locating vital memories in a landscape, a body, or a place.
“Our experience of memory is so varied and fascinating, both shared and individual, and comes at times with startling clarity, at others as elusive, fragmentary and sensory,” he said. “Inside each of us lies a place filled with memories of longing, love, regret, and joy – our own ‘memory palace’.”
Barlow said that working with the final year students on The Memory Palaces has been a rewarding and rapid-fire experience as the team has only five weeks in which to create the performance.
“The student’s capacity to invent and explore a startling visual language that brings together puppetry, sound design and image is testament to the unique creative atmosphere fostered in the collaboration between Spare Parts and WAAPA,” he said.
“Audiences can expect a performance that stirs their own memories and kindles reflection on this fundamental aspect of our lives. Prepare to be transported by a tale of love, life, and forgetting, spun from threads of memory that bind us together – that make us human.”
Spare Parts is thrilled to work on the ninth collaboration with WAAPA with this very special season of The Memory Palaces on November 10 at 7pm and November 11 at 2pm and 7pm for three shows only at the Ellie Eaton Theatre, Gate 1 at the Claremont Showground.
Tickets for The Memory Palaces can be booked HERE.
Please note, this production is not suitable for children. Age recommendation is 15+.
The Memory Palaces
Directed by Michael Barlow
Written by Dee Waddingham
Devised and performed by 3rd Year WAAPA Performance Making students
“A meaningful relationship between two people cannot sustain itself only in the present tense.” – Joshua Foer
Performance Details
Venue:
Ellie Eaton Theatre
Gate 1, 1 Graylands Rd, Claremont
Claremont Showground
Performance Dates:
10th Nov 7:00pm, 11th Nov 2:00pm, 11th Nov 7:00pm
Ticketing Information:
$20 – Full
$15 – Concession
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