Penelope Bartlau

The Memorandium is an interactive, installation performance, going up at Theatre Works, Melbourne, in August this year. Right now, the artists are working with kids from Fitzroy High School in the creative development (CD) of the work.  We are playing with installation, puppetry, story-making, improvisation and percussion with these kids - It's a residency Barking Spider Visual Theatre (the company) has at the school. We'll all move to the theatre in August.

What we want to raise money for and why:

Installation materials & their transportation.

With kids from Fitzroy High School (FHS), we are building an installation of an old curiosity shop, which will then be taken from FHS and re-installed in the theatre and used as the set. The money is important because it will mean we will be able to afford a really cool, interesting, imagination-fuelling bunch of materials for the kids and artists to play and work with. The installation will be more authentic and beautiful: the student artistic learning and experience richer.

How much do we need to raise?

We need $2000

To assist paying for materials & equipment for installation: $1600

For transportation of materials from Fitzroy High School to the theatre, (and for bump-out of the set as well): $400

What is The Memorandium? 

Let's start with how the show makes people feel: People who've seen The Memorandium as a work in progress LOVE the feeling they take from it. Here are some audience quotes:

“I went with my sister – We remembered our childhood home, our swing, and our mum’s special fairy bread – haven’t felt so connected to my sister in years”

"Very gripping. Very clever. I wanted to know - What's going to happen next?".

"I felt a strong & exciting sense of "What next? What next?" as the stories built – and my memories were part of the story!”

“For a moment tonight, I rediscovered lost love, and I reconnected with home – The stories made me so happy”

Here's the You Tube clip of the early work: Click Here

So - here's some info about what inspired us to create the work:

THE MEMORANDIUM

~ Memory is the cabinet of imagination, the treasury of reason,

the registry of conscience and the council-chamber of thought. ~

Giambattista Basile

The Memorandium is a theatrical exploration of our memories - the stories, feelings, thoughts and impressions that reside within us all.

In an old curiosity shop, lost gifts and forgotten objects are unwrapped, revealed and shared. Together we create a story, formed and inspired from our collection of memories aroused by these objects. Puppets emerge from the collection of curios, as live percussion underscores the magic. The Memorandium is breathtaking, as we share memories and our stories.

So who am I, writing all this on Pozible? I'm Penelope Bartlau, artistic director of Barking Spider Visual Theatre, and creator of The Memorandium.

Barking Spider Visual Theatre (established in 2006) is a Melbourne-based puppetry and visual theatre company that develops and presents work to diverse audiences across ages and cultures, in Australia and internationally. The company members are dedicated to excellence in the form and practice of theatre, with a collaborative creative process. With illusion and transformation as the guiding aesthetic, Barking Spider aims to generate beautiful and truthful work that challenges habits of perspective and which allows audiences to feel, to delight, to dream and to be inspired.

The company has a strong history in development, creation and production of original works, generating in excess of 23 works over five years. We develop theatrical presentations, works with communities and schools, roving performances, workshops and works with museums and galleries. We are unfunded, successful, innovative and have free-range imaginations. Got an idea? Want to work with us? Get in touch: [email protected]

Arts Hub have been amazing, and are supporting us on this project.

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