It is unimaginable to have grown up in Australia in recent decades without having read Mem Fox’s Possum Magic. This iconic children’s story of a young possum and her Grandma travelling the breadth of Australia to find the right edible magic has delighted generations since it was first published in 1983. The history of the book is fascinating. Briefly: Mem Fox was a mature age student at Flinders University studying literature having already graduated from the Rose Bruford Drama school in London, she wrote the book as an assignment. When trying to publish the book Mem received nine rejections from publishers 
(including an early version where the possums were mice), eventually her book was published with the exquisite watercolour paintings of Julie Vivas. Mem Fox has since published over 40 books including Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, Koala Lou, Hunwick’s Egg, Where is the Green Sheep and This & That. She has won a slew of awards and has changed the face of children’s literature around the world. In the intervening 30 years since Possum Magic was published countless classroom activities and children’s birthday parties have delighted in the fauna, flora and food of Australia that are portrayed in each page.
Monkey Baa Theatre Company have taken on the highly anticipated task of turning this deeply loved picture book into a stage play. Like Mem Fox, Monkey Baa Theatre company also have a long history of winning awards for their productions of well-known Australian works of literature for children including Josephine Wants to Dance, Diary of a Wombat, Pete the Sheep and The Bugalugs Bum Thief . It certainly feels like the perfect fit for this work. The development process was inclusive of primary school children’s feedback and the creative and production team behind the show are impressive. There is a lot of respect given to the story from all involved. This is a work that has great heart at the centre of it and through the life of the production this will no doubt reveal itself further onstage. For a work so beloved by so many generations of readers, a dramatic retelling is always going to challenge audiences as we all have our own existing versions of the tale in our mind.
The design team of Emma Vine, Matt Cox and David Bergman have created a beautiful scrubland setting with a central screen that is used for a wide array of effects including magic, shadow puppetry and video. The video design gives a wink and a nod to the 1980’s style Leyland Brothers travel shows and the main stage element of the screen is surrounded by evocative stage trees and all of the expected bells and whistles of a modern production. The puppetry, props and physical world are all cleverly created by Adam Mada, Bruce Glen, Samantha Chester and Alice Osborne. Without giving too much away, the invisibility of little Hush the possum relies on the magical belief of the audience as much as the magic of Grandma Poss. The highlight of the production is Nate Edmondson’s sound design that clearly evokes the book: the distinctive sounds of birds and wildlife immediately transported us to that imaginative Australian Bush place where all of our favourite characters reside.
Sarah Greenwood gives a lively performance as Hush. Claudette Clarke is gentle as Grandma Poss. Alex Packard and Michael Yore round out the cast with the unenviable task of performing all of the ensemble roles. They also have been given space to use magic tricks and add their own characters to the story, some of these improvisations work better than others but the irreverence and humour balance out the production. Sandra Eldrige has skilfully directed this work that Monkey Baa are touring to a staggering 62 towns and cities across Australia. The life that each audience will give to the production as well as the performers being able to live and breathe the piece for so many months will add to the energy of the play. This production of Possum Magic elegantly adapted by Eva Di Cesare and Sandra Eldridge certainly contains enough magic to enable the production to have a long, long life.
Mem Fox and all at Monkey Baa do incredible work for children, this production has a lot of history and toil behind it but most of all it is a story of love; love of a possum and her grandchild, love of writing and teaching, love of staging impossible Australian stories and most of all love of young people getting opportunities to experience the joy of theatre that tells Australian stories. Pack your Grandma, pack your child, pack enough vegemite sandwiches and lamingtons for all and go and treat yourself to a bit of theatrical bush bewitchment with Possum Magic.
Fiona Hallenan-Barker, Theatre Now Sydney
