When POD travels to Cairns Children’s Festival this May, it brings with it a rich, sensory performance world shaped by Top End seasons, deep collaboration, and a creative process grounded in both cultural guidance and disability-led practice.

Drawn from Larrakia understandings of season, POD invites young audiences into a gentle, immersive experience of music, movement, and puppetry.

Grounded in Larrakia knowledge

At the centre of the work is a commitment to place. Rather than applying a Western framework to the story, the creative team undertook cultural consultation with Larrakia Elder Aunty June Mills whose extensive cultural knowledge shaped the work from the inside out.

“It was vital,” says POD Director Tania Lieman, reflecting on having Aunty June spend time in the room during development. “Because the seasons are a cycle, we thought we could start the show anywhere. But when we showed Aunty June, she took one look and went, ‘No, you’re starting in the wrong place. You need to start when it rains and everything springs to life.’”

That moment became more than a creative adjustment. It changed the grounding of the whole work.

“That suggestion made so much sense for the show. And it’s just one example of how invaluable it is to seek proper cultural advice and consultation,” Tania says.

A show built through collaboration

Rather than building the show around rigid structures, the work emerged through shared making, with performers, musicians and collaborators all in the room from the beginning.

The process also extended beyond the rehearsal room. As part of development, some collaborators spent time out in nature, slowing down and observing the world around them.

As Tania describes it, the process involved “that lovely slow being in nature, connecting, and going into more of that observational space – watching the tide come in and the migration of birds.” That careful observation helped shape the mood and texture of the work.

One of the key composers, Harry Walker, is an artist with disability whose contribution helped shape the sound world of the piece in an organic and intuitive way. As Tania describes it, the show grew by responding to what was actually happening in the room, rather than forcing ideas into a pre-set script.

“It was really very organic,” she says. “We weren’t trying to create anything that wasn’t. It’s what we live in every day and we’re reflecting it and finding a way to honour it and be true to it.”

This openness also helped shape the role of lead artist Jonathan Tan, whose contributions became central to the work. A long-time collaborator, Jonathan brings humour, warmth and instinctive connection to the stage, helping guide audiences through the show’s gentle and shifting world.

A gentle, sensory theatre experience

The result is a work that resists the usual rules of children’s theatre. There is no spoken dialogue. Instead, POD unfolds through sound, texture, image and movement, inviting children to experience the performance in their own way.

“There’s no words in the show,” Tania says. “The audience can just go into a sort of beautiful state of relaxation. It’s soothing and comforting and sensorily very rich. You’re watching texture, colour, and shapes appearing. Everything is muted and soft.”

Interactivity is also a key part of the experience.

“As the audience come in, there are pods going up and down on pulleys and audience members are welcome to come and have a look or touch them,” Tania explains. “Especially the little kids. We bring the puppets to people as well.”

Disability-led practice at the heart of the work

The way POD engages audiences reflects the wider values behind Luminous Productions and their practice of centring artists with disability, and ensuring productions are accessible by all abilities.

As Artistic Director of Luminous Productions, this is work Tania has developed over decades.

Rather than asking artists to conform to a fixed creative model, she speaks about adapting process, communication, and expectations to meet people where they are.

“I go there, I don’t ask them to come to me,” she says.

A story that grows from place

For us here at Artback NT, POD is more than just a beautiful show to tour. It is also an example of what can happen when performance is built through trust, inclusion and a genuine respect for place.

The result is a work that feels both intimate and expansive: a gentle first theatre experience for young audiences, and a quietly powerful example of storytelling grounded in Country and collaboration.

---

POD is showing at the Cairns Children’s Festival, with two performances on 16 May 2026.

Find out more and book tickets here

This tour has been made possible with funding from Creative Australia.