So, yesterday I went to see A Ghost In My Suitcase the play, based on the novel by the wonderful Melbourne writer, Gabrielle Wang. It was performed by the Barking Gecko theatre company, a troupe from Western Australia. Here is a link to an interview she did with some of my students about this book.
I’ve read all her novels apart from the Our Australian Girl ones, but this one was very special. It’a about a girl, Celeste, who goes to China to stay with her grandmother and scatter her mother’s ashes. She discovers that her grandmother, Por Por, is a ghost hunter - a gift she shares. Por Por has an apprentice, Ting Ting(who now has her own novel), who at first resents Celeste, till they have to work together. By the way, Por Por also appears, still ghost busting, in The Pearl Of Tiger Bay, an novel set in Australia!
The play was performed at the Melbourne Arts Centre. I bought one of the best tickets since they were only a few dollars more than the cheaper ones, so had a great view! There was a small cast - Por Por, Ting Ting and Celeste, with another three actors playing the rest of the roles, which they did impressively, and a very simple set made up of big boxes with projections for the places they went. There must have been some puppeteers involved in such things as flying sheets, and I saw the shadow of one, but they worked smoothly and well.
The twelve year old girls, Celeste and Ting Ting, were played by adults, but it didn’t seem to matter. I loved Por Por, the wise grandmother, and the actress who played the role.
A lovely play! I hope it’s turned into a movie eventually, but I have to say, it won’t have the magic of the stage show.
I’ve read all her novels apart from the Our Australian Girl ones, but this one was very special. It’a about a girl, Celeste, who goes to China to stay with her grandmother and scatter her mother’s ashes. She discovers that her grandmother, Por Por, is a ghost hunter - a gift she shares. Por Por has an apprentice, Ting Ting(who now has her own novel), who at first resents Celeste, till they have to work together. By the way, Por Por also appears, still ghost busting, in The Pearl Of Tiger Bay, an novel set in Australia!
The play was performed at the Melbourne Arts Centre. I bought one of the best tickets since they were only a few dollars more than the cheaper ones, so had a great view! There was a small cast - Por Por, Ting Ting and Celeste, with another three actors playing the rest of the roles, which they did impressively, and a very simple set made up of big boxes with projections for the places they went. There must have been some puppeteers involved in such things as flying sheets, and I saw the shadow of one, but they worked smoothly and well.
The twelve year old girls, Celeste and Ting Ting, were played by adults, but it didn’t seem to matter. I loved Por Por, the wise grandmother, and the actress who played the role.
A lovely play! I hope it’s turned into a movie eventually, but I have to say, it won’t have the magic of the stage show.
I love seeing books come to life on the stage. A number of years ago the Hub and I took the Barbarians to see 13-story Treehouse and they loved it.
ReplyDeleteThis was aimed at children too, though in the end there were plenty of adults after all. I don’t know about Canberra, but in Melbourne every school holidays see at least one book-themed entertainment for children(though this wasn’t during the holidays)
ReplyDeleteI heard a lovely interview with the author, probably on Radio National, probably Monday 15th, (in case you are interested and have the app). She spoke about writing and about the play, and how things could be shown on stage. It sounded very interesting
ReplyDeleteYes, I heard that, but I have the app, maybe I’ll listen to it again.
ReplyDelete