with Barking Gecko Theatre Company (2017)
When Ophelia moves with her family to the seaside, she’s not impressed. She doesn’t like the beach, misses her old home and thinks the people in this town are pretty strange. While unpacking her room she discovers a mysterious box full of gadgets, parts and pieces, and a strange note that reads ‘You. Make. Me.’ Her curiosity gets the better of her and she spends all night assembling the objects into Olivetti, a robot with a typewriter chest and an alarm clock heart. Made up of pieces, but more than the sum of her parts.
Together Ophelia and Olivetti take on the local bully and make friends with a child so worried about allergies that he never leaves the house, all while trying to keep her dad from discovering that Olivetti is really a robot. But a bigger challenge is coming – can the pair save their friend and reunite him with his mother?
My Robot takes audiences of all ages on a rambunctious adventure filled with robot antics, laughter, daring rescues and bewildered parents, all told with the care and artistry synonymous with Barking Gecko’s award winning shows. Children will discover that we’re all just made from pieces, and that when we feel less than whole we can find – or make – a part that fits!
(from Barking Gecko Theatre Company)
“Needless to say this robot is the stuff of childhood’s most vivid imaginings. Perfectly voiced by Sarah Nelson, this gorgeous machine is the creation of robot designer Steve Berrick. No surprise that post-show chatter revolved around how certain technical elements came together!” Varnya Bromilow, Seesaw
“Olivetti may be made from a biscuit tin but this is no cookie-cutter robot. Creative coder and artist Steve Berrick’s creation will stick with kids long after they leave the theatre, possibly into their own coding careers.” Melanie Coram, The West Australian
https://vimeo.com/247094799
CREATIVE TEAM
Playwright: Finegan Kruckemeyer
Director & Dramaturg: Matt Edgerton
Designer: Isla Shaw
Lighting Designer: Chris Donnelly
Composer & Sound Designer: James Luscombe
Robot Designer: Steve Berrick
Production Manager: Michael Maclean
Stage Manager: Emily Stokoe
Costume Coordinator: Nicole Marrington
Set Construction: Onstage Arts
Scenic Artist: Ruby Smedley
CAST
Ophelia: Arielle Gray
Dad, Otis, Orson, Ms Ogilvie: St John Cowcher
Olivetti the Robot: Sarah Nelson
- Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of WA, 2017
- Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of WA, 2019