Muckheap

Funny, physical and fantastically messy, Muckheap is a tale of two people trying to clean out their house for their big move.  In the process of packing and sorting they find all their hoarded junk too interesting, useful or too full of memories to throw away.

As a way of coping, the characters throw themselves into a story, made up on the spot and Illustrated with whatever comes to hand. What emerges is Jacky and the Beanstalk - with a twist that parallels their own situation.

Slipping from throwing out junk to creating characters with consummate ease, this show displays the awesome power of the puppeteer. It invites children to become their own story makers and encourages imaginative play through whatever you have at hand.

Muckheap is driven by Polyglot’s philosophy of inventive play, children as creators and the idea that the simplest of materials can make for fantastic worlds, with imagination and confidence.

The history of this performance is rich; developed through engagement with children as audiences in Australia and China, explored as a bilingual performance in English and Auslan, rehearsed with children in the room to test and trial new ways of telling stories and playing with paper, junk and objects.  One of Polyglot’s longest running shows, Muckheap premiered in 2001 and continues to be as relevant and entertaining today as when it was first created.

A brand new production was made during an international collaboration with artists from across Australia, New Zealand and China. A whole new generation of children can see Muckheap fresh and vigorous and better than ever.  

Fresh from recent seasons at the prestigeous National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and the Shanghai International Children's Theatre Festival (in Chinese), Muckheap is soon to be performed at the Segerstrom Center in California, USA (in English), then later in 2011-2 will be performed in Melbourne in Auslan. Muckheap has been touring for ten years, performing everywhere from the Esplanade Theatres (Singapore) to the Sydney Opera House. 

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