Billie and the Outback Dinosaurs



- About the Work
- Touring & Tech
- Marketing & Engagement
IMAGINE IF THE GOONIES STUMBLED INTO JURASSIC PARK BUT IT WAS ALL SET IN OUTBACK AUSTRALIA.
Synopsis
Billie is smart kid who lives in Fossil Flat, a tiny outback town somewhere between the Middle of Nowhere and the Back of Beyond. She likes science and history and tinkering with old bits of junk to invent new things in the ramshackle shed out the back of the town’s only Service Station where she lives with her dad.
At school, Billie is a bit of a loner. She’s got red hair and glasses and knows more than most of the other kids put together (and even, sometimes, more than her teacher, Mr Longbeen) so the other kids tease her. Her nemesis is Rodney Codswallop and his little gang of Oddbods – Lippy, Knuckles and Short Shaz. To avoid them at recess and lunchtime, Billie has invented the game of Soccer Rock, a lonely little game for one player that involves kicking a rock around the playground until the bell goes. One day, when it all gets too much, she runs away, across the highway, through the petrified forest and into the gorge where she comes across the Wet Wall Waterfall. Billie slips through the waterfall and finds herself in a secret valley where, to her utter amazement, is full of dinosaurs who have somehow survived extinction in this lost paradise.
Now, most kids can tell a T-Rex from a Triceratops, or a Stegosaurus from a Velociraptor but not many kids know that Australia has its very own dinosaurs – Muttaburrasaurus, Koolasuchas, Timimus, Mythunga Camera, Rhoetosaurus and the scariest if all, Australovenator. Yet here they were right in front of Billie’s face. For a while, Billie is scared… but pretty soon she realises that these lost creatures are not going to eat her or tear her to bits, and before long, she’s made friends with them all… even the Australovenator. It seems like she’s finally found a place where she can be happy, where she can be herself… until Rodney and the Oddbods follow her into the secret valley. Suddenly the dinosaurs, Billie’s happiness and the town of Fossil Flat itself are all at risk…
Billie and the Outback Dinosaurs uses text, music, physical transformation and visual images to tell a story about self-belief, independence and resilience in the face of bullying. Billie and the Outback Dinosaurs is an original story set to original music, in the tradition of Peter and the Wolf. It is simple, storytelling theatre that follows a rule of thumb, that as many of its theatrical devices as possible should be able to be replicated by the audience in their own spaces. There are no rubber suites or elaborate sets and costumes – one actor plays all four Oddbods and six dinosaurs using nothing more than body shape, movement and voice.
Short Reviews
City of Glen Eira
Video
Technical Information
Lighting
Lighting design still being developed, but the intention is for a simple, basic design that can be achieved within most standard rigs. The show uses a flat screen television for images.
Audio
Audio (music & video) playback required, operated from a laptop using QLab.
Staging
The in-theatre set is still to be designed, but will consist of two upstage flats and a central, raised Flatscreen TV (not needing to be hung or flown) – plus five wooden stool/steps that are constantly moved/reconfigured on stage.
No fly system needed.
No orchestra pit or piano needed.
No technical warnings required.
Crew Notes
N/A
Transport Notes
Ideally, the show is intended to tour in one van that provides seating for four and a cargo space for the set. Alternatively, the show could tour in one sedan and a small van for the set etc.
Audience & Marketing Notes
*This is a show for kids and families
*This is a show for dinosaur lovers and those with an interest in Australia dinosaurs
*This is a show for audiences who like their storytelling shared between text, movement and music
*This is a show for kids who like to feel they can extend the experience by recreating some of the highly engaging and accessible narrative and theatrical elements in their own spaces to make their own extended versions of the story.
Selling Points
- Kids love dinosaurs… but most stories are about Northern Hemisphere dinosaurs… so here’s a bunch of new dinosaurs for them to fall in love with, and they’re all home grown!
- The story is fun and funny but has serious elements that have been engaging our audiences on a thoughtful level… best of both worlds.
- The characters are strong and likeable and ultimately positive in their outlook. Even though Rodney and the Oddbods are bullies, but not through violence or mean spiritedness,,, it’s bullying by exclusion and Billie (with the help of the dinosaurs) manages to navigate her way through that to a positive outcome that not only allows the audience to understand the Oddbods, but allows the Oddbods to understand and recognise their own behaviour.
- The show appeals on different levels – different parts of the audience find an entry point that is either through the text, through the music, through the physicality of the performances, through the visual images – it allows young audiences to engage in the way that suits them best.
- Little kids (preps) and bigger kids (grade sixers) and teachers have all responded positively to the show. We expect that broad age range to extend to adults as well in the family show context. It’s not a show for grownups to tolerate… it’s a show where grownups can share the enjoyment with their kids.
- There is a strong educational foundation to the work and good curriculum links for school audiences.
- The show features (on video) highly popular comedian, Doug Anthony Allstar and disability activist, Tim Ferguson.
Details
Genre
Audience
Primary school aged audience
Venue Format
Black Box, Thrust, Studio, Hall
Duration
50 minutes Minutes
Available Until (from - to)
31/12/2023
Budget & Fees
What are these? Find out more.In Development - work which will be produced and premiered in time for touring during 2022/2023. Please contact the Producer directly for Budgets and Fees.