The PaperBoats is a partnership platform for theatre-makers creating meticulously crafted performances for children. The platform was conceived and founded by Dave Brown in 2016 after 20 years as Artistic Director of Patch Theatre Company.
The PaperBoats distinctive style of theatre is devised using a theatre-making process defined by 7 creative principles.
Pre-COVID, The PaperBoats platform developed co-creation partnerships between Australia, USA, Singapore and New Zealand resulting in the creation of 4 original works that have collectively presented more than 400 performances across 4 continents.
Post COVID the platform refocussed its attention on creating and presenting works in regional South Australia, developing new touring models that saw quality theatre presented to more than 18,000 children in small and large regional communities across 4 years.
THE PRE-COVID PHASE of The PaperBoats theatre-making activity (2016-2020), was prompted by a simple animating idea ~ explore TWO in every which-way.
Especially on Birthdays ~ A poetic visual theatre work for 3-8 year olds about a pair of twins and a 6th birthday one of them doesn’t want to have. This visual narrative about sameness and difference was directed by Dave Brown and co-created by many artists in Adelaide, South Australia, in Austin, Texas and LA in the US and in Singapore.
“I was so captivated by the beauty and energy of Especially on Birthdays.
So many of the images left me breathless.”
The Strangest Dream ~ A 70 minute online auto-biographical and musical performance from the brilliant Emmy Nominated US composer of Especially on Birthdays, Matthew Wilder.
Directed by The PaperBoats AD, Dave Brown, Matthew shares his roller coaster ride across four decades to finding his path as a pop-star, record producer, movie composer, song-writer, TikTok celebrity, writer of musicals and parent to two talented sons.
Watch it by clicking on the image link below:
From the first hyperspeed minute when I hurriedly strapped on my mental seatbelt and prepared for a wild ride, to the very end, singing at the top of my lungs and dancing, I was riveted.
When the Mirror Bird Sings – an immersive visual theatre experience unfolding a mythical tale of kindness overcoming greed. The performance is orchestrated by Max Richter’s astounding recomposition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, with children’s participation amplifying the themes of hope and renewal. This visual narrative about “lines that connect and lines that divide” was directed by Dave Brown and co-created with Juliette and Scott Griffin in Adelaide, South Australia. In 2021, a new version of the work was directed by Temeka Lawlor and performed by her with performer Stephen Noonan.
“From the very beginning of When the Mirror Bird Sings, I was completely captivated, mesmerised!
It was a deeply moving performance which was archetypically layered and elegant.
The Vivaldi was sublime!”
Gimme Please! ~ Two friends persist in getting what they need from one another in the process of finding their path. This poetic, visual theatre work for 2-5 year olds about control and letting go was directed by Megan Alrutz and Sam Provenzano in Austin, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia in a co-creation process between Australia and the US. Learn more …
“Oh the audience loved Gimme Please!
Everyone was laughing and feeling everything that the performers were feeling on stage.
It was really remarkable.”
Sam Provenzano and Megan Alrutz (theatre-maker/directors ~ USA) guided an Egyptian team in a remount of Gimme Please! for performance by an Egyptian cast for the Hakawy International Festival in partnership with The PaperBoats, UT Austin and the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta.
Wonder
Wonder is a dance-theatre project by director/theatre-maker, Sally Chance and her team in association with The PaperBoats and Insite Arts.
Using her Family Dance Labs process of working with babies to three year olds and their adults, Sally has created a work with communities ~ exploring the universe of us.
Together, mums, dads, grandparents with their babies, toddlers and two year olds have artistically explored light, star gazing and the interconnectedness of us all in a wide and wondrous universe to make Wonder!
The Chrysalis Box – A COVID Project
Children in a K-3 class are sent a mystery box by an artist from The PaperBoats and the children and educators respond to the mysteries of the box through art and play.
When the children’s responses are shared back with the artist an artistic relationship emerges between the children, the educators, the artists and the box spawning wonder, learning and joy.
In one iteration of The Chrysalis Box project, artists Temeka Lawlor and Angus Leighton share their Chrysalis Box with students at Clare Primary School.
Temeka and Angus have been mentored and supported by The PaperBoats as emerging artist/theatre-maker/producers across the last 4 years in a project generously funded by Thyne Reid Foundation and auspiced by Patch Theatre Company.
The Chrysalis Box was a partnership between The PaperBoats and Patch Theatre Company.
THE SECOND FOUR YEAR PHASE of The PaperBoats theatre-making activity (2020-2024) has been prompted by another simple animating idea ~ “explore wonderment and the number 7.”
“In the Process of Making” ~ sevenwell.org
On the 7th of July, 2025, Dave Brown with artistical associate, Jon Bode, will launch an audio-documentary called “In the Process of Making.”
It’s a wild ride of an experiment that takes us to the heart of what artistic creativity looks like and feels like.
It is both a documentary about creativity and a creative act in itself – tracking a 4-year artistic journey while simultaneously becoming the very thing it sets out to describe.
“In the Process of Making” plunges listeners into the messy, uncertain and deeply human experience of “making something from nothing.”
“an oddball odyssey of close encounters of the seventh kind”
Seven Little Wonders
Director and conceptualist Dave Brown worked with regional artists, Gavin Clarke, Sarah Brokensha, Fay Cakebread and Anya McKee alongside Bob Weatherly and Robyn Brown, to create an intimate and interactive theatre-performance event for 4-8 year olds incorporating light, colour, music, sound, video projection and deep participation.
The show premiered in 2022 and has performed to over 6,000 children with a statewide tour in 2024 including seasons in Adelaide, Pt Lincoln, Whyalla, Port Pirie, Renmark and Mt Gambier.
“This visually stunning spectacle, brimming with music, colour, and light, chronicles the endearing tale o f Starman Sam’s quest to reunite with his cherished loved ones…. A harmonious blend of creativity, heart, and pure joy, Seven Little Wonders earns a resounding five stars for its ability t o transport audiences of all ages t o a place where the extraordinary feels within reach.” Review by KheShan Cronow
“Seven Little Wonders” was awarded the 2022 Ruby Award for ‘Outstanding Work, Event or Project for Young People’, presented by the Government of South Australia through Arts South Australia.
“the Boy & the Ball” is a non-verbal story about making a friend and how one friend can become many.
In a world simply constructed from multiple cylinders of all shapes and sizes, we meet a very shy boy and witness how, with the assistance of his ball, he makes one friend and then many;a wondrous tale of reassurance, joy and connection.
“the Boy & the Ball” was awarded the 2023 Ruby Award for ‘Outstanding Work, Event or Project for Young People’, presented by the Government of South Australia through Arts South Australia.
“The mastery of this work is its delicacy and respect for its young audience, their capacity to respond to it and be rewarded in that response by what happens before them by a supremely aware performer in Noonan.” The Barefoot Review
Temeka Lawlor is the new Associate Artistic Director with The PaperBoats SA, where she will have artistic management of Especially on Birthdays and When the Mirror Bird Sings whilst developing a new work of her own called Precious Things.
Temeka has been a key theatre-maker/performer in Patch Theatre’s production ZOOOM and The PaperBoats Especially on Birthdays and brings her astute talents and insight to her new role with The PaperBoats.
Temeka and The PaperBoats will present Especially on Birthdays with Tim Mackie, Bob Weatherly, Robyn and Dave Brown in small communities tours to the Limestone Coast, Murray Mallee and Eyre Peninsular in 4 weeks of regional touring throughout 2022 and perform a 2 week holiday season in September 2022 to the Out of the Square circuit of venues.
Wonderkind is a non-verbal show for children aged three to seven conceived and directed in Wellington, New Zealand by theatre-maker, Kerryn Palmer and devised with performer/theatre-makers, Timothy Fraser and Emma Rattenbury in partnership with The PaperBoats and other collaborators. It follows two friends as they explore everyday objects to create magical worlds filled with music, light, puppetry and transformation, leading them to discover that endless possibilities for wonder and joy lie in friendship.
With original music by Craig Sengelow, design by Sean Coyle and puppetry by international puppeteer Ana Lorite of Naranjarte, Wonderkind will be performed at Circa Theatre from 9-30 July, 2022 after three years in development.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The PaperBoats Partnership Directors 2016-2020: Dave Brown – Adelaide, SA, Dr Brant Pope, Dr Megan Alrutz – University of Texas, Austin, Jim Weiner, Boat Rocker Entertainment, New York, Luanne Poh – The Artground, Singapore, Stephen Blackburn, Kerryn Palmer, Wellington, New Zealand, Robyn Brown, Business Development Manager – Adelaide SA.
The PaperBoats Directorate 2021-2025: Artistic Director: Dave Brown, Associate Artistic Director: Temeka Lawlor, Artistic Associate; Stephen Noonan, Business Development Manager: Robyn Brown
The PaperBoats Partnership Platform has been assisted by the South Australian Government through ArtsSA and Country ArtsSA and the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory group.
The PaperBoats thanks the many artists, advisors, educators, carers, kindergartens and schools who have offered their support and insights during the development and trialing of its works. We are also deeply grateful for the support of the following partner organisations without whose support our venture would not be possible.
Adelaide Festival Centre
ArtsSA
Auspicious Arts Projects
Australia Council for the Arts
Adelaide College of the Arts
Alliance Theatre, Atlanta
Boat Rocker Entertainment
Commonwealth Games Festival 2018
Country Arts SA
Goodwood Theatre and Studios
Hopgood Theatre
Hayawy International Festival, Egypt
International Performing Arts for Youth
Insite Arts
James and Dianna Ramsey Foundation
JonesMacQueen Business Consultants
Kueh Tutus, Singapore
National Arts Council of Singapore
Naracoorte Lucindale Council
Marion Cultural Centre
Out of the Square Touring Circuit
Patch Theatre Company
Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre
Sally Chance Dance
TYA/USA
The Artground, Singapore
Thyne Reid Foundation
University of Texas – Department of Theatre and Dance
Victoria University, Wellington, NZ
Wilder Kingdom Music ~ Hallelujah Productions, Inc
