Gasps of wonder and imaginations gone wild at this special kids' event

Having toured the country with her message of resilience and sustainability, a small fish with big dreams is headed to the nation’s capital, armed with the courage to pursue the seemingly impossible and a powerful idea for children.

The Fish That Wanted to Fly is a magical and interactive puppet show by Little Wing Puppets that will delight children and families at Tuggeranong Arts Centre later this month.

Set in a mangrove swamp, it follows the story of a little fish whose lagoon is drying up; all the other fish have left for the ocean, and she wants to learn how to fly so she can see them again.

She meets a naysaying hermit crab, has a “Karate Kidesque” training session with an optimistic Kingfisher, and finally, encounters a curiously helpful cormorant who offers to take her flying – but will she make it back in one piece?

The tale of The Fish That Wanted to Fly tumbled out of a brainstorming session between co-writers Jenny Ellis, Miriam Lieberman and Anne Brooksbank, but was recently reimagined as a solo show performed by Jenny.

Little Wing Puppets has performed for more than 50,000 school students and in numerous festivals, theatres and country halls in every state and territory of Australia, as well as overseas. The company is committed to environmental education, and treasured for its uncanny ability to weave together stories about Australia’s unique natural heritage in light-hearted and entertaining ways.

The Fish That Wanted to Fly’s extensive performance history includes the National Folk Festival and the Melbourne Festival of Puppetry.

Jenny says the 35-minute play, told with hand and rod puppets and incorporating interaction from the audience, is an excellent show for young children aged three to eight years that adults can readily enjoy.

“It’s a very gentle, colourful, fun show that is highly engaging for preschool-age children,” she says.

“It explores the life and habits of Australian animals and their environments and acts as a springboard for inquiry into several interesting and important topics that families can then expand on – around sustainability, perseverance, friendship and resilience.”

After the play, the audience is invited to step further away from the spectator role with an option to participate in a workshop, in which they’ll make colourful paper sea creature puppets of their own and learn how to bring them to life.

Jenny, who schooled overseas and apprenticed herself to great puppet masters from around the world, says puppetry is an ideal way to activate the imagination and explore important topics in an accessible way.

“As a child, I loved puppetry and was heavily influenced by The Muppets, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. In my mind, all those worlds were very real,” she says.

”The realisation that they were puppets was a sad moment because in my mind our world was populated by those creatures – I never doubted their existence.

“Puppetry has a wonderful place in the modern world because it’s very hands-on. It’s very satisfying for children because they can make a whole world really quickly and bring it to life.”

Jenny says audiences may be surprised at the ability of puppetry – an analogue entertainment – to engage children of a digital age.

“With a live experience like this, it’s amazing to hear children gasping in wonder and reacting so strongly to these objects on stage because with their imagination they imbue them with life,” she says. ”They become very real, and I can remember as a child exactly what that feels like.

“I think it’s more powerful in the digital age because it’s real and right in front of them. They’re in the room with it, and there’s a relationship and connection.”

The Fish That Wanted to Fly comes to Tuggeranong Arts Centre on Thursday 18 and Friday, 19 July, from 10:30 am to 11:15 am with optional workshops from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. Show tickets cost $30 for adults, $20 for children and $90 for families, and the workshop costs $25 per person – book here.