Bangarra Dance Theatre’s Waru: Journey of the Small Turtle follows the generational journey of a turtle coming out of its egg, finding its way to the sea, growing up big and strong, and returning to lay eggs of their own.
The audience walks in to see a beautifully set stage with fairy lights and magical dot lighting on the walls, like millions of fireflies in the night sky. The ambient music and beach sounds complete the scene and allow the young audience to ponder what they will see when the performance begins.
The first words the audience hears are in a whisper. A voice pays respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, on which the performance takes place, and tells the audience a little bit about what is to come in the production. As the play is aimed at a younger audience, this whisper was an absolutely beautiful way to ease them into the performance space.
The turtle’s story is told from the perspective of a grandmother who lives on the beach and acts as the guardian of the turtles. As such, the journey of the small turtle is told from her perspective and includes many delightful moments of dance, kung fu and song.
The performance itself consisted of two actors – Elma Kris and Aba Beru. Elma’s voice as the grandmother was welcoming, encouraging, and engaging, and her energy was wonderful and drew in the audience. Aba embodied their multiple roles full-heartedly and met their unique energies with joy and consideration.
Audience engagement and interaction was a large part of this performance, and on opening night, the crowd followed Elma’s gentle-paced storytelling through dancing and singing. As the story followed the journey of two mother turtles, the dances and songs were repeated. This repetition was perfect for the young audience to help them remember the dances after the performance.
Another wonderfully age-considerate inclusion was that the play notes the change in ambient music as a foreboding tool. When the lighting and music change and Elma asks the audience, “Can you feel it?” this not only helps the young audience follow in the drama of the story at that moment but also helps them on a broader scale to pay attention to the soundscape and lighting of the show in general.
Waru: Journey of a Small Turtle is the first dedicated children’s performance from the Bangarra Dance Theatre, and for their first production, they got a lot of things right. The drama of the piece and the warm nature of the grandmother’s character kept the engagement levels high for all ages. The story was told in a way that I was not expecting, and I would encourage anyone with small children to give them the opportunity to see this story told on stage.
Performances are running in Gadigal Country (Sydney) until October 14th, then will move to Wadawarrung Country (Geelong) until October 21st.
This review also appears in It’s On The House.
