Barking Gecko Theatre
Barking Gecko Theatre (BGT) is Western Australia’s flagship theatre company for children and families. We are honoured to make our work on Whadjuk Country, the ancestral lands of the Noongar people.
The theatre we create has a global reputation for quality, ambition, and scale. We operate as a repertoire company, with our productions going on to tour regionally, nationally, and internationally once they have premiered at our home in Perth.
BGT is Perth’s longest running professional theatre company. Across our 35 year history the company has created 107 new Australian works, performed in 12 countries, won countless industry awards, and reached audiences of over 1 million people.
Our vision at Barking Gecko is of a world where all children are creative, courageous and culturally engaged. Everything we do springs from this place of deep respect for children. Our mission is to make theatre of the highest quality for young audiences and their families.
BGT is a destination for some of Western Australia and the nation’s leading and most imaginative artists. Our work is created through rigorous creative development periods that push artistic form and challenge limiting notions of what theatre for young audiences can be.
Our Cause
To enrich children's lives.
Our Vision
A world where all children are creative, courageous, and culturally engaged.
Our Mission
To provide high-quality, accessible theatrical experiences that empower young people to shape their experience through creativity.
Our aim is to inspire young audiences, and their parents, teachers and communities, whilst strengthening the theatre industry and its artists in Western Australia.
Our Values
The Child's Perspective
Children are our audience and the experts whose opinions we seek. We listen to their voices and integrate their worldview into the art we make.
Quality
We create theatre that is ambitious, rigorous and well-crafted. We collaborate with leading artists to tell stories of substance. We aim for best practice in all that we do.
Leadership
We step forward to create cultural progress and shape a new future. We use our voice to ensure art made for children is better understood and valued.
Imagination
Imagination is the common language of children and artists - we use it with boldness and originality. We embrace new ideas, new ways of working, new frontiers.
Our Impact
Evidence-based research shows unequivocally that children who engage in the arts show significant improvement in social and emotional well-being and academic achievement.
When children attend a Barking Gecko Theatre performance or participate in one of our drama classes or workshops, it can:
- Foster creativity and self-expression
- Support social and emotional well-being
- Inspire empathy and compassion for others
- Create a sense of identity and belonging
- Build resilience to deal with life's ups and downs
- Provide safe spaces where young people can be themselves
- Improve literacy, communication and collaboration skills
- Increase confidence and encourage curiosity
- Encourage imaginative play
- Forge new friendships outside of school
2019 – 2024 Luke Kerridge
2015 – 2019 Matt Edgerton
2010 – 2014 John Sheedy
2006 – 2010 Jeremy Rice
1989 – 2006 Grahame Gavin
1987 – 1989 John Saunders (Acting Out)
2023
Performing Arts WA Nomination Best Mainstage Production - Cicada
Performing Arts WA Nomination Outstanding New Work - Arielle Gray, Luke Kerridge, and Tim Watts, Cicada
Performing Arts WA Nomination Outstanding Direction of a Mainstage Production - Luke Kerridge, Cicada
Performing Arts WA Nomination Outstanding Stage Design - Tyler Hill, Cicada
Performing Arts WA Nomination Outstanding Lighting Design - Chloe Ogilvie, Cicada
Performing Arts WA Nomination Outstanding Sound Design - Tim Collins, Cicada (WINNER)
Performing Arts WA Nomination Outstanding Performer in a Supporting Role - Grace Chow, The Great Un-Wondering of Wilbur Whittaker
2022
AWGIE Award Nomination, Best Theatre for Young Audiences - Dan Giovannoni, HOUSE
APDG Award Nomination, Design for a Live Performance - Charlotte Lane, HOUSE
2021
Performing Arts WA City of Perth Award Nomination for Outstanding Digital Engagement during Covid-19 - Isolate > Create > Connect
2020
Performing Arts WA Award Best Newcomer - Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa, Fully Sikh (WINNER)
Performing Arts WA Award Nomination Best Director of a Mainstage Production - Matt Edgerton, Fully Sikh (WINNER)
Performing Arts WA Award Nomination Best Composition or Arrangement - Pavan Kumar Hari, Fully Sikh (WINNER)
Performing Arts WA Award Nomination Best Mainstage Production, Fully Sikh
2019
AWGIE Award Nomination, Best Theatre for Young Audiences – Vanessa Bates, A Ghost in My Suitcase (WINNER)
2018
AWGIE Award Nomination, Best Theatre for Young Audiences – Finegan Kruckemeyer, My Robot (WINNER)
2017
Performing Arts WA Award Nomination Best Supporting Actor - St John Cowcher, My Robot (WINNER)
2016
Helpmann Award Nomination Best Presentation for Children - Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories (WINNER)
Helpmann Award Nomination Best New Australian Work, Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories
2015
Helpmann Award Nomination Best Presentation for Children - The Rabbits (WINNER)
Helpmann Award Nomination Best New Australian Work - The Rabbits (WINNER)
Helpmann Award Nomination Best Costume Design - Gabriela Tylesova, The Rabbits (WINNER)
Helpmann Award Nomination Best Original Score - Kate Miller-Heidke with Iain Grandage, The Rabbits (WINNER)
Performing Arts WA Award Nomination Best Production - The Rabbits (WINNER)
Performing Arts WA Award Nomination Best Lighting - Trent Suidgeest, The Rabbits (WINNER)
2023 The Snow (Australian professional premiere)
2022 The Great Un-Wondering of Wilbur Whittaker, and Cicada (world premieres)
2021 HOUSE (world premiere)
2020 Bambert's Book of Lost Stories
2019 Fully Sikh (world premiere), A Ghost in My Suitcase (Perth Festival), My Robot
2018 Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories, Living Lecture, A Ghost in My Suitcase (world premiere)
2017 My Robot (world premiere), Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories, Saltbush, In a Dark Dark World, Living Lecture: Romeo and Juliet
2016 Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories (world premiere), Sugarland, In a Dark Dark World (world premiere), The Rabbits, Living Lecture: Macbeth
2015 The Witches, Storm Boy, The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk, The Rabbits (world premiere)
2014 Jasper Jones (world premiere), The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk, Onefivezeroseven
2013 Hamlet, Storm Boy (world premiere), Driving Into Walls, This Girl Laughs This Girl Cries This Girl Does Nothing, Duck Death and the Tulip (world premiere)
2012 Driving Into Walls (world premiere), The Red Tree, This Girl Laughs This Girl Cries This Girl Does Nothing (world premiere), The Red Tree, Improvolicious 2.0
2011 Hoods, Improvolicious, The Red Tree (world premiere), The Amber Amulet
2010 Improvolicious – The Improvised History of Theatre, Castle Rascals, The African Magician, Aesop and His Fables
2009 Nargun and the Stars, Hoods, Fatty Wombat, Metal and Muscle
2008 Australia Vs South Africa, Skylab, Run Kitty Run, Improvolicious – The Improved Guide to Amazing Inventions, Gogofish, Castle Rascals, Bear Feat
2007 The Lost Girl, The Buzz, Run Kitty Run, The Troll and the Bowl, Improvolicious – The Improvised History of Theatre, Castle Rascals
2006 The Feather Surfers, Trains of Thought, The Troll in the Bowl, Hidden Dragons, The Buzz
2005 Crabbing At High Tide, Aerosoul, The Buzz, Pri-mates, Hidden Dragons, Tree House
2004 His Majesty’s New Clothes, Hidden Dragons, The Stones, The Buzz, Crabbing At High Tide, The Littlest Bird
2003 The Cat Who Ran, The Buzz, Hot Dogs, The Stones, Ghost Train, The Rodeo Kid, Aesop And His Fables
2002 Sarena’s Song, Alice@Wonderland, The Buzz, Aesop And His Fables, Own Worst Enemy, The Rodeo Kid, Leonora Project
2001 Mice – A Cheesy Little Musical, Own Worst Enemy, 1001 Nights, Stories of the Australian Zodiac
2000 Starlight Starbright, Frog Opera, Amy Monster, Tiger Tango, The Wizards and Witches of the New Australian Zodiac, Web life, Dolphin Talk
1999 Sandcastle Stories, Wet Dogs, Frog Opera, Turtle Island, Silverfish, Stoke!, Silverfish, Actors At Work, The Wizards and Witches of the New Australian Zodiac
1998 Frog Opera, Noah’s Flood, Turtle Island, Actors At Work, Danny In Trouble, Wild Geckos, Letters From the Inside
1997 The Emperor’s New Clothes, Magna Sonic, Wild Geckos, HeadSpace, Two Unreal Stories, Silverfish
1996 The Deliverance of Dancing Bears, Snugglepot And Cuddlepie, Way Home, Two Unreal Stories, Alice in Wonderland. First AWESOME Festival programmed!
1995 Alice in Wonderland, The Egg, Visiting the Relatives, Dolphin Talk, Ivory Circle, My Space Too, Bullyfruit, Twisted Universe, Yirra Yaakin separated from Barking Gecko Theatre Company to become its own wonderful company!
1994 Visiting the Relatives, Ivory Circle, The Sea Dreams of Isabele Ismay, Puppy Love, Malache – Dispatches from Another World, The Voyage of the Poppykettle, Visiting the Relatives, Talking To Grandma While the World Goes Around, Alice In Wonderland. First presentation at Perth International Arts Festival.
1993 Selected Moments From the Voyage of Vasco Pyjama, Ivory Circle, Boss of the Pool, Fossils
1992 Visiting the Relatives, Melanie and the Night Animal, The Amazing Adventures of Don Quixote, The Cat Makes Tracks, The Whale
1991 Wicked, Dolphin Talk, The Voyage of Vasco Pyjama, Black Diamonds, Unreal, Telling Tales
1990 Monkey See Monkey Do, Dolphin Talk, Jenny Goes Wild, Talking to Grandma While the World Goes By, Boss of the Pool, Boxed In
1989 Kit and Caboodle, Dolphin Talk, A Sporting Chance, Puppy Love, The Great Geraldton Railways Picnic
1988 Year 9 Are Animals, Susumu’s Story, Junk, Smash Hit, Hating Alison Ashley, Curriculum Alive