DINOSAURS will be roaming around the West Yorkshire Playhouse on Monday and Tuesday when Australian theatre company Erth use ingenious puppetry to bring these prehistoric creatures to life in Dinosaur Zoo.

This interactive and imaginative show will introduce half-term family audiences to a range of creatures from cute baby dinos to teeth-gnashing giants, such as the carnivorous theropod known as the "Australovenator", Australia’s version of the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Intrepid audience members will be invited on stage to assist Erth's zoo keepers in their daily tasks, but be warned, not all of these ravenous reptiles are as tame as they seem. Each performance will conclude with a post-show chance to meet the dinosaurs.

Dinosaur Zoo has enjoyed seasons at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in London, in the West End and at the Edinburgh Festival. The show has played to family and schools audiences all over the world, from Australia to Los Angeles, from New York City to Bahrain, with its mix of humour, adventurous daring and informative learning.

Now T-Rex and co are making tracks to Leeds for 50-minute performances in the Quarry Theatre at 11am and 2pm on Monday and Tuesday. Box office: 0113 213 7700 and at wyp.org.uk

The show is suitable for age three and over.

York Press:

 

Just A Quickie with Dinosaur Zoo director Scott Wright ...

Who are Erth, Scott?

"Erth are a visual and physical theatre company based in Sydney, Australia, at an awesome venue called Carriageworks. We have been around for 20 years and we tour shows throughout Australia and internationally."

How would you describe Dinosaur Zoo?

"It could be described as a Live Animal Presentation, much like you might see at a zoo or a wildlife park but we have dinosaurs, great dinosaurs, from very small babies to some of the largest ever found. We teach the audience aspects of animal husbandry and we invite some members of the audience onto the stage to assist us with feeding and caring for our dinosaurs."

Who is the target audience?

"Dinosaur Zoo appeals to anybody between the ages of three and 300. The show is naturally geared towards kids. Children worldwide love dinosaurs but one of the surprising things about the show is that adults get a real kick out of it too. The show does have some great educational overtones but at the end of the day it is very funny and has a lovely endearing nature to it."

What is the aim of the show?

"To have fun and to be honest. Dinosaurs are awesome but they can also be big and scary; every kid knows that. We like delivering the facts and since working with museums, the importance of honesty has allowed us to tackle some pretty sticky questions like 'Is it real?'. Once upon a time, we would try and explain our way out of such a question with awkward charm, but these days we are straight up: 'Yes, it's a real puppet'.

"It's the easiest answer and thanks to the magic of theatre and people's desire to suspend their disbelief, more often than not, just two minutes after you announce that all the dinosaurs are puppets, people forget and continue on the journey."

How do audience members become involved in this interactive show?

"Throughout the show, we will bring people on to the stage; this is actually my favourite part because it is unrehearsed. People's reactions are very real and unpredictable, so it makes for some wonderful moments. We bring some of the dinosaurs out at the end of the show for a meet-and-greet ,so that folks have a chance to pat the creatures or take a photo."

How did you come up with the idea for Dinosaur Zoo?

"Im just a theatre director who knows a lot about dinosaurs, even though a lot of people think I’m a paleontologist! We had been custom making life-like dinosaur puppets for museums around the world and as a result had developed some pretty cool ways of presenting them within a museum context.

"We started to realise that we were on to something quite unique, so we started doing small outdoor street shows at festivals around Australia and from there the idea snow-balled into the show that it is today. We like to keep the show fresh by building new dinosaurs all the time and introducing them regularly so that we keep up to date with recent discoveries."

Why do you think Dinosaur Zoo has proved so popular?

"It's unique, there is nothing like it in the world and because it's Australian it has a fun, edgy charm to it. Most people's experience of dinosaurs is based on inanimate objects in museums or as animated creatures in film or television, so by bringing our dinosaurs on to the stage we come one step closer, realising everybody's dream of having these awesome creatures alive and well in our modern world."

Have you always been interested in dinosaurs?

"When I was a kid, there was a lot less known about dinosaurs. I remember making a paper-mache dinosaur with my dad and grandpa, which I dragged around with me from one house to the next – we moved a lot when I was younger – and it slowly fell apart. I think it eventually made way for Star Wars action figures; need I say more?"

Are you a fan of Steven Spielberg’s movie Jurassic Park?

"Not really. I do appreciate that Jurassic Park kick-started a global resurgence of interest in dinosaurs at a time when it was felt that palaeontology was a dying science. But the commercialisation of dinosaurs is perplexing, which is ironic coming from me having created a show about dinosaurs, but we hope that we provide a fresh way of looking at them by not anthropomorphising them.

"None of the dinosaurs in our show speak, or teach children to count, nor do they wear clothes, drive trains or live in houses. Of course dinosaurs can be used as a gateway for learning, which is always commendable, but sometimes this can be exploited well beyond any real validation. We hope that in our show that we at least impart some valued lessons about the true nature of animal behaviour whilst having some fun and a good laugh too."