Boy Swallows Universe
Boy Swallows Universe is adapted from the smash hit novel loosely based on Brisbane author Trent Dalton’s own childhood. It’s an exhilarating story of magic and madness, of beauty and brutality, of joy and heartbreak, and of the power of love to triumph over the darkest of circumstances.
Production Trailer
Producers
Queensland Theatre / Brisbane Festival / QPAC
SEASON
Playhouse QPAC, Brisbane Australia (2021)
Creative Team
ADAPTED FOR THE STAGE BY – Tim McGarry
DIRECTOR – Sam Strong
DESIGNER – Renée Mulder
LIGHTING DESIGNER – Ben Hughes
COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER – Steve Francis
VIDEO DESIGNER – Craig Wilkinson
MOVEMENT DIRECTOR – Nerida Matthaei
FIGHT AND INTIMACY DIRECTOR – Nigel Poulton
SENIOR STAGE MANAGER – John Reid
DEPUTY STAGE MANAGER – Yanni Dubler
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER – Margaret Burrows
ASSOCIATE MOTION DESIGNER – Jordan Peña
ASSISTANT FIGHT DIRECTOR – Sam Valentine
ASSOCIATE SOUND DESIGNER – Matthew Erskine
CAMERA OPERATOR – Joel Tronoff
ASSISTANT VIDEO EDITOR – Nevin Howell
CAST
ELI BELL – Joe Klocek
AUGUST BELL/ENSEMBLE – Tom Yaxley
LYLE ORLIK / BRIAN ROBERTSON / ENSEMBLE – Anthony Gooley
FRANKIE BELL – Michala Banas
BICH DANG / MRS BIRKBECK / ENSEMBLE – Ngoc Phan
DARREN DANG / ENSEMBLE – Hoa Xuande
SLIM HALLIDAY / TYTUS BROZ / ENSEMBLE – Anthony Phelan
IWAN KROL / ALEX BERMUDEZ / ENSEMBLE – Joss McWilliam
CAITLYN SPIES / SHELLEY / DR BRENNAN / ENSEMBLE – Ashlee Lollback
ROBERT BELL / ENSEMBLE – Mathew Cooper
TEDDY KALLAS / ENSEMBLE – Andrew Buchanan
ENSEMBLE – Charles Ball
ENSEMBLE – Hsin-Ju Ely
PRODUCTION PHOTOGRAPHY – David Kelly and Lachlan Cross
REVIEWS
Video designer Craig Wilkinson has recreated the city of Brisbane with towering images of its landmarks – Boggo Road Gaol, Story Bridge, the City Hall clock tower – projected onto the three walls of the set. The use of video allows the set to dissolve reality into fantasy and back again at rapid speed. In one moment the set is a Vietnamese restaurant in Darra; in the next, excerpts of handwritten letters are unfolding on the walls: “I will remember this moment … I will remember the end, through the beginning”
THE GUARDIAN
“Incredible projection mapping from video designer, Craig Wilkinson, and associate motion designer, Jordan Peña… an entire universe was created in the mostly blank canvas of the Playhouse set. I’ve seen only one other show with projection mapping of this scale, which was Frozen (The Musical) and I would argue that this was just as good quality and just as immersive.”
THEATRE TRAVELS
The first rule of storytelling is to show rather than tell, and this is what lies at the heart of the show’s success as it moves the audience quickly through the many early fast-moving scenes of its gritty coming of age story. Swift scene changes go virtually unnoticed within Renee Mulder’s dynamic set design…. and Craig Wilkinson’s video design widens us to be, for example, under a starry sky as moving images bleed across the blank canvas of a stage to create suburban balconies and alike to give things a 3D effect”
BLUE CURTAINS BRISBANE
“Ben Hughes, as lighting designer, ensured the scene work was complemented by the projections; the collaboration between these two departments paid off in vibrant and carefully paced design”
THEATRE HAUS
PRODUCTION IMAGES
MEDIA
Queensland Theatre – Production Program
Australia Live Industry Alliance (ALIA) – Lighting Boy Swallows Universe Article
ArtsHub
Trent Dalton’s bestseller hits the stage in a meticulous adaptation
Limelight
The much-anticipated adaptation of Trent Dalton’s bestselling debut novel
The Guardian
★★★★
Atriumphant and timely reminder of why we need live events
