Company Of Rogues And Matriark Theatre Announce Inspiring New Family Show Exploring Dementia And Alzheimer's

Company of Rogues and Matriark Theatre are delighted to announce their partnership to develop Little Girl Lost, a new work for young audiences written by award-winning playwright Peter Maple. The work will have an in-progress showing open to the public in Sydney on Monday, July 29th.

Inspired by family members who have experienced cognitive decline, Little Girl Lost has been designed to help families understand the experience of Dementia/Alzheimer's in an entertaining, honest and poignant way.

Director Scott Parker, from Matriark Theatre (Urza and the Song in the Dark, There is a Tribe of Kids), said, "We were excited to have Company of Rogues ask us to be involved with Little Girl Lost - the idea to create a brand new work addressing cognitive decline with young audiences feels bold and risky, qualities that always get us excited. Our vision is to craft a thrilling adventure story that is thoroughly entertaining, beautifully rendered and can nudge the door open for families to talk about ageing in a safe and sophisticated way."

Told using magical puppetry and quirky animation, we follow Rima, a young girl who wakes up to find herself in a dark place - a land of talking animals and shifting wilderness, where the familiar is made unfamiliar (and vice versa). But she doesn't know who, what or where she is.

In order to find her way, Rima will charge herself with an epic journey full of mystery, the bizarre, and the inspiring, aided by an Elephant who knows the way, and a Monkey that just wants to play. Exploring what it is to remember and be remembered, this current development will bring to life the play's themes, music, puppetry and visual design along with Peter Maple's poignant words.

For Peter Maple (Beast. Belly. Beast, Dead Sunrise), the work is an opportunity to create an experience his own young family could love, "I want to captivate on a visual, auditory, and narrative level, as well as get at the heart of what makes us us, our hearts, bodies, and minds" he said, "I think if we can understand ourselves then, perhaps, we can understand our world".

Robbi James from Company of Rogues (Boy Out of the Country, Morgan Stern) noted the significance of the partnership, "here was a fantastic opportunity to partner with Matriark, to share our passion for the themes in the play and to explore creating theatre for families for the first time," he said, "I'm thrilled that Scott was inspired by the idea and we're inspired by his insatiable desire to create something really special for future audiences".

Featuring actors Eliane Morel (Ba Ngoi, Women in Shakespeare), Hayden Rodgers (Josephine Wants to Dance) and Dannielle Jackson (Emily Eyefinger, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show), Little Girl Lost will enjoy two school incursions with Inner West primary and secondary students before the in-progress showing at Harold Park Hall on July 29th.

The performance is open to the public and is a wonderful opportunity to experience a new show before anyone else, as the creative team test the story, animation and puppetry elements for the first time.

Bookings: www.companyrogues.com or via Eventbrite.

Need more Australia - Sydney Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...