By Dongyun Kwon
A play for toy lovers is coming to Healesville for the first time.
Velveteen Rabbit is a show performed by a Melbourne theatre company Born in a Taxi, based on a children’s book written 100 years ago by Margery Williams during the Scarlet Fever epidemic.
Born in a Taxi co-artistic director Carolyn Hanna said it is about a toy that becomes real and deals beautifully with exploring ideas of what it is to be real and how one becomes who one really is.
“In true Born in a Taxi style, we have made this story our own where everyone brings their own favourite soft toy to the show,” she said.
“In this show, the toys are charged and they are not making a theatre show, they are making a movie so the kids in the audience and their VIP toys become extras in the movie being made on stage.
“There is live video projection, audience participation, live music and a set that plays with scale from the miniature to the gigantic.”
Established in 1989, Born in a Taxi is one of Melbourne’s most highly regarded, award-winning physical theatre ensembles and creators of contemporary performance, recognised for producing highly original, physically driven, and participatory works in theatres, site-specific and outdoor contexts.
Immediacy, responsiveness and play are at the centre of everything they do.
Their works have been expanded to the international stage as well, as Born in a Taxi has toured the USA, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Belgium, France, the UK and New Zealand.
“We were lucky enough for The Memo to see a pitch we did and liked it so much they wanted to bring it here,” Ms Hanna said.
“Penny, Born in a Taxi’s co-artistic director, has a personal relationship with Healseville going back over a decade, spending time with her Dad and family here, watching and listening to lyrebirds.”
The play will be held at The Memo, Healesville from 11am on Saturday 5 October.
For more information and to purchase a ticket, please visit the following link, yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Experience/Events/Velveteen-Rabbit
