A spectacle, a ceremony, a procession – Menagerie is an interactive community-derived performance.
Menagerie invites community members to come together to both create and participate in the show. Participants take part in workshops to create animal character costumes and learn to bring them to life.
Then, when the sun goes down, children and their adults are invited to a community celebration, where they can form part of the Menagerie. Our Gentle Giant – resplendent with decorations and luminescent skin – joins participants to lead the celebration in a sea of colourful chaos.
This is Menagerie – the audience immersed in life, light, sound, and colour!
Photography and video by Maisie Cohen
Puppet made by Alice McKaig
Menagerie premiered as a part of the 2022 New Annual Festival. Throughout the festival, participants were invited to help Curious Legends create Menagerie.
Thank you City of Newcastle and New Annual for commissioning this original work, and to Create NSW for their support in this production through their 2022 Annual Funding.