The Show, December 3, 2012

(photo by Jason Strang)

In their blog, Old Trout Puppet Workshop asked the public to help them create their new work, but in a footnote was this: "We’ll take all the credit, and make all the profits, just so you know up front. And there’s no guarantee that your idea will make it into the show – even if everybody in the world can tell it’s a way better idea than we ended up using – we’ll make the final decisions. After all, we’ll be the poor bastards actually making the puppets and spending the money. You have to contribute for the love of it, or not at all." 

This is precisely the kind of surprising and gently mordant humour evident in the work that arose from the consult: Ignorance. Behind the ha-ha, though, there is depth and our reviewer, Stuart Munro, spotted it when he concluded, "There are more serious moments to be sure and even (dare I say it?) pathos. But make no mistake, the absurdity of Ignorance’s narration and the skill of its performers will leave you smiling and in awe of just how much can be done with so little. Anyone looking for a different but spectacular night out at the theatre would do well to head down to Berkeley St." (Read all of Stuart Munro's review)