Watching the stage production of Shaun Tan's The Arrival

What is it like to move to a foreign land where you don't know the language or the culture? How would you feel if you had to leave your family behind? How do you deal with loneliness and make new friends? These are the questions explored in Shaun Tan's amazing wordless picture book The Arrival . Born in Perth, WA, Tan is an Australian author/illustrator who is the child of immigrants. His father is Malaysian and his mother is from an Irish/English background. His book has drawn from historical documents and photos from Ellis Island, New York but is set in a surreal, alternate universe. When I saw that there was a stage production of his work coming to Canberra, I knew I had to see it!

Spare Parts is the name of the puppet theatre company that produced the show. The entire show is performed by 4 people only. The man who plays the main character did an excellent job of looking confused as he tried to adapt to life in a new land. He didn't have any money so he had to go find a job to pay the rent. He often got lost wandering the streets and he comes across a very cute animal who becomes his friend! The puppets were great in the show.

The animations that were projected on the stage really added to the overall feeling of the story. Because there was no speaking throughout, the music was very important as well. The combination of sound and image, plus the facial expressions of the actors and their physical movements conveyed the plot excellently. What a treat to be able to see the picture book come to life.

Cover of The Arrival
Source

Because the show was only 50 minutes long to make it appropriate for the young audience (recommended for age 5 plus), they had to cut some parts of the book out. Therefore I highly recommend you to read the book!

One of my favorite spreads in The ArrivalSource

After the show there was a 10 to 15 minute Q&A session with the actors. We found out more about their training and background. They told us that Shaun Tan had approached the company to adapt his book into a stage production even before the book was published. It was first performed in Perth 11 years ago! The animator worked with the images that Shaun Tan gave him to make the video projection and the creator of the main stage set said that he was inspired by origami to make the set. It opens up and closes like an origami box. Very creative. Some kids in the audience wanted to know how they made the puppet sounds and two women showed how they took the squeaky noise contraption out of a stuffed toy dog so they could press it when they wanted the puppets to "talk." The other device was a whistle. I think the children were mesmerized!

It was a great show and I highly recommend it for Steemians in Australia who may be able to see it if it comes to your city.

If you don't have the opportunity to see The Arrival, you can watch Tan's Oscar-winning animated short film The Lost Thing, which is available on YouTube

@snooway