2022 Year In Review: Larrikin Puppets

2022 has been a very busy year for us. 

Much of our focus this year was on final preparations, rehearsals and the big launch performances of “Hijabi Girl: A Musical Puppet Show“. This show was three years in the making, with some challenges and road blocks along the way, and a total of thirty collaborators who helped us make it happen – plus the generosity of our Patreon doners. 

We had three successful performances at the Kingston Butter Factory’s new Butterbox Theatre in Kingston, QLD. While the original book’s authors, illustrator and publisher (who all flew from interstate to attend) absolutely loved this adaptation, along with the audiences of school groups and families who attended, this production took a huge toll on our mental and physical health. So, with a heavy heart and much deep discussion, we made the difficult decision to put the show to bed rather than tour with it. As a grassroots, husband and wife micro business, the scale and weight of the show was much bigger than we could cope with. 

While we’re sad the show won’t be continuing, we are comfortable with the tough decision we’ve made and are grateful for the experience. We learnt a lot about ourselves and look forward to bringing audiences more puppet fun into the future whether that be for stage or screen – probably something less complex to execute next time!

We thank David Granato from Polygranate Films for coming along to the launch show and filming it, and we look forward to the filmed version existing in perpetuity online for you all to enjoy at your leisure. Keep an eye on our Larrikin Puppets YouTube channel and our other social media for the release of that video.

But the big dreams don’t stop there at Larrikin Puppets! We have some great new music and TV ideas we’re working towards. Stay tuned. 

We’ve been working with a fantastic song writer, Liam McAlary from Yeah Nah on some new puppet songs. To give you an idea of the top quality song writing we’re going for in our next release, you can hear Liam’s awesome kids album “Are We There Yet?” here. 

As you know, we always love the opportunity to perform puppetry on TV. Our next large project focus will be on a new TV series pilot. In the meantime, we had a great time on TV this year with three episodes of Shake Takes for Channel 10 which aired nationally, and an episode of ROPE TV for disability organisation ROPE Inc. 

This year we also got to work with Aussie rock icons Regurgitator for a third time, performing our puppet show as the opening support act for their Pogogo Show performance for kids in a very packed out Princess Theatre! 

Touring to regional, rural and outback communities is something else we always enjoy doing. So after a couple of years of cancelations due to COVID complications like lockdowns, road closures and illness, we finally hit the road to the “back o’ Bourke” and nearby towns Brewarrina and Lightning Ridge (all in outback NSW) to perform for local communities of indigenous kids and families, visiting schools and childcare centres, celebrating 10 years of the “Did Ya Know” Program, run by the NSW Outback Division of General Practice Ltd. And in recent weeks as we approach Christmas, we’ve brought our show to Cairns, Maryborough, Newcastle (NSW) and Montville, as well as all the usual South East Queensland locations we visit, like Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay Region, Ipswich, Logan and Gold Coast.

Elissa has even started a series of videos on TikTok called “From the Grassroots with Larrikin Puppets“, which shows some of the work and challenges behind the scenes as we venture out to a new venue or event each day. On TikTok you can find Larrikin Puppets at @larrikinpuppets, and Elissa’s behind-the-scenes account at @wide_eyed_wonderer. 

A massive thank you to each and every one of you for your ongoing support of Larrikin Puppets and grassroots performing arts.

You can find out where we’re performing next on our gig calendar, and be sure to get in touch if you would like a puppet show, a puppetry performance workshop, a monitor puppetry for film and TV workshop, or a sock puppet making craft workshop.