Frail and vulnerable, an elderly woman lays on a hospital bed. Uncomfortable, a doctor and nurse prod at her. Left alone, she is visited by a strange comical bird trying to deliver a mysterious package. Frightened, she reluctantly moves towards the box and becomes inundated by box after box.

Suddenly it stops …

Looking inside the package, she reaches in and pulls out a book and torch. The journey of the woman’s life becomes a series of projections, until something frightens her. Slamming the book, she hides it under the pillow.

Another package opens …

A little girl peeks out of the box and begins to bang on it loudly, playing. The old lady approaches to scold the child. Restraining, she warms to the child and watches her grow.

We watch her as time passes …

A toddler is swimming, fear sets in. Alone, the woman hears the sound of a train, another package begins to shake, nightmarish creatures appear. Moving to the pile of boxes, she hits one.

Everything goes dark and silent …

Light shines through the window onto the bed. She approaches slowly and takes the book from under the pillow. Flicking through the pages, she stops at the image that frightened her. Turning the torch light off she holds the book to her chest.

Exploring life, death, love and loss, The Package is a soulful story without any words. Combining an original musical score with puppetry, physical theatre, animation and mask. The Package reminds audiences that no matter how old we are, the theatre – and life itself – is full of magic.

Devised and produced by Packed Theatre.

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ABC Radio Alice Springs (Rohan Barwick) interview with Packed Theatre performer Katelynd Griffin below. Produced by Nicole Lee, ABC Radio.

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Read about Packed Theatre’s highlights, challenges and journey touring The Package through the Northern Territory here

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Audio descriptions

ORIGINAL CONCEPT

Katelnd Griffin

co-devised with Kristy Schubert and Robbie Hoad

PERFORMERS

Katelnd Griffin, Kristy Schubert and Robbie Hoad

ANIMATION

Katelnd Griffin and Conor Fox

PUPPET CONSTRUCTION

Katelnd Griffin, Robbie Hoad, Conor Fox, J9 Stanton, Andrew Cook and Sarah Cook

with assistance from Dan Goronszy and Karen Hethey

ORIGINAL SCORE

Joaquin Hourbeigt, Robbie Hoad, Annie Pfeiffer, Xavia Nou, Pin Rada, Katelnd Griffin and Kristy Schubert

SET DESIGN

Kristy Schubert, Robbie Hoad and Katelnd Griffin

COSTUME DESIGN

Katelnd Griffin and Robbie Hoad

LIGHTING DESIGN

Robbie Hoad

Packed Theatre is an ensemble of Alice Springs artists creating works of magical realism and wonder for all ages. Their key performers are Katelnd Griffin, Kristy Schubert and Robbie Hoad. Using the ‘language’ of puppetry, physical theatre, animation and music, Packed Theatre tell stories without any spoken words, taking their audiences on surreal and soulful journeys, described as “playful”, “joyous”, “mesmerising”, “enchanting” and “deeply moving”.

Based on an original concept by Katelnd Griffin, the team began co-devising their first collective work, The Package, in 2014. The show has since had seasons in the Alice Desert Festival 2014, Araluen 2015, Darwin 2016 and Adelaide Fringe 2017. The team has a passion for community engagement through the arts and have worked with young people, senior people, Indigenous and CALD communities. They use skills in community development and workshop facilitation to create fun, meaningful experiences beyond the show itself.

Previous Seasons

2014 Alice Desert Festival, Alice Springs

2015 Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs

2016 Brown’s Mart Theatre, Darwin

2017 Adelaide Fringe Festival, Adelaide

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