Shadow Puppet Story Time and Workshop

Bring some magic to your school holidays with a special shadow puppet book reading and workshop with local puppet artist Bria McCarthy. Together we will have shadow puppet story time, reading 'The Little Giant Wombat' and 'Seven Stars Dancing In The Sky'. Then unleash your imagination with shadow puppet performance making, using experimental and inventive techniques and materials. Prepare for an afternoon of wondrous shadow play!

When: 1-3pmWednesday 23 April 2025
Where:
Good Earth Bookshop
24 Station Street Wentworth Falls

Who: For kids ages 5+ (Carers also welcome to attend)

Tickets: $15 per person

or $40 for one ticket and a copy of each of Bria's two books

About Bria:

Bria McCarthy writes and creates work for theatre, literature, film and education, with a speciality in experimental shadow puppetry. She created the ‘Shadow House’, a recycled fabric textile installation and performance space seen at the Penrith Real Festival and the Art Gallery of NSW. Her work was commissioned for the major exhibition ‘Dhuluny: The War That Never Ended’ at Bathurst Regional Art Gallery. In 2023 her debut solo show 'Dragon Hearts' won the Sydney Fringe Award for Best Emerging Artist, and the show was selected to play in the Melbourne Fringe BlakLodge. She was the recipient of the 2022 ACE Indigenous Artist Residency, and her debut manuscript was shortlisted for the 2022 Text Prize. She is an autistic artist with Wiradjuri and Irish heritage. Her work is characterised by an emphasis on multispecies storytelling, neurodivergent imagination, and it is always a little magical.

Bria will be sharing

A Hand Made Interactive Shadow Puppet Zine retelling of the story of the Seven Sisters, or Pleiades star cluster. It features four unique interactive shadow puppets and an original story about seven sisters who turn into the night sky.

A Hand Made Interactive Shadow Puppet Zine called The Little Giant Wombat that tells the story of the giant relative of the modern day wombat is known as the Diprotodon, a colossal marsupial that lived side by side with my Wiradjuri ancestors. This book explores what a baby Diprotodon may have been like and their imaginative playtime.

The zines are A6 in size and spiral bound. They feature unique shadow puppet pages that can be projected using a mobile phone torch. No flat surface is needed. Experiment with the shadows in your reading space and bring the story to life.

A zine (/ziːn/ ZEEN; short for magazine or fanzine) is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images.