The Master Collector

Emery Whipple is a Master Collector who travels the world collecting objects and stories with their dutiful assistant, Kip. However, the art of collecting is endangered, and the world is running out of stories!

Emery and Kip's journey has brought them to classrooms across our state with a special mission - to recruit new members to The Global Society of Collectors! But when a puzzling object crawls into Emery’s teapot while visiting the beautiful Western Australian coastline, their mission is thrown off course.

Enlisting the help of students - the newly appointed new Junior Collectors - Emery and Kip work to unravel the mystery with the hope of finding a home for the unclassifiable 'thingmabob'. However, when a villainous bureaucracy tries to intervene, they must use their collective imagination to find a solution and dream a new world into existence.

Inspired by Australian artist, writer and film maker Shaun Tan's exquisite picture book, The Lost Thing, the Master Collector is a participatory, immersive storytelling experience about difference, belonging and the power of imagination.

Delivered through one-hour hybrid 'performance workshops' across five weeks, learning is embedded in the narrative. Students are front and centre of the story, playing an active role in its development and imagining a way for everyone – and everything – to have a home.

INAUGURAL CREATIVE TEAM:

Created by: Carla Nirella, Luke Kerridge, Adriano Cappelletta and Grace Chow
Written by: Luke Kerridge and Adriano Cappelletta
Designer: Amalia Lambert
Sound Designer: Tim Collins
Puppet Construction: Stewart Campbell
Props and Building: Stewart Campbell and Luke Salfinger
Video Content: Grace Chow
Creative Learning Manager: Fiona Lane

2024 IMMERSE Teaching Artists/Performers:

Emery:
Jo Morris
Carla Nirella
Teresa Jakovich 
Kim Walsh
Asha Cluer

Kip:
Lily Baitup
Hannah Davidson
Isaac Diamond
Caitlin McFeat
Lucy Wong