PRODUCER | CREATIVE TEAM

ERTH VISUAL & PHYSICAL, INC. (PRODUCER): Founded in 1990 in Ballarat Victoria, ERTH has been consistently creating art for the public domain since its inception, and is today recognized as an innovator of physical and visual theatre nationally and internationally. The North American production is a presentation of Red Tail Entertainment.

ERTH combines a truly fantastic aesthetic with performance and often site-specific productions that involve a menagerie of large-scale puppets, stilts, inflatables and aerial techniques.  Productions, installations and creatures include:  Incubator, Gargoyles, Waterheads, Caution, Bushfire, The Garden, Gondwana, The Nargun and the Stars, Dinosaur Petting Zoo, Dinosaur Zoo,  I, Bunyip, Spirit Creatures and TaniWha Acts I, II and III.

ERTH tours the globe extensively and has performed at most major Australian and International festivals such as the Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony (2000), Hong Kong Fringe, Galway Arts Festival (Ireland), Stockton, Riverside Festival (UK), Singapore Arts Festival and the Festival of Arts & Ideas in Connecticut, USA.  Recent ERTH works have been seen at Bangkok (2009), Shanghai World Expo (2010), Sydney Childrens’ Festival (2009/2010/2011), City of Sydney Chinese New Year Parades (2009/2010/2011), Ten Days on the Island tour (2011), Hampyeong Butterfly Festival, Korea (2011) and Melbourneʼs renowned Moomba Festival (2009/2010/2011).

Increasingly, ERTH is bridging the gap between cultural and theatrical institutions by bringing physical theatre and puppetry to museum environments.  Successful roving and aerial performances have been individually written and delivered for The Australian Museum, Museum of Victoria (Melbourne), Old Parliament House, National Museum of Australia (Canberra), Auckland Museum (New Zealand), The Field Museum (Chicago), Natural History Museum (Los Angeles) and Minnesota Science Museum.  Upcoming shows are scheduled for the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC.

The company is also in demand for corporate and commercial engagements. This can take the form of commissions, collaborations, consultations and direction of projects with and for other organizations.  ERTH also undertakes community workshops, cultural development projects and mentorships in many remote indigenous communities across Australia.

ERTHʼs design studio and custom workshop creates objects and productions for many clients.  In the past, The Sydney Opera House, Sydney Festival, Sydney Olympic Games, the Department of Communications and the Arts, Centenary of Federation and Performing Lines, have all had specialized creations produced from ERTHʼs busy studio and workshop.

Housed in CarriageWorks, Sydneyʼs newest contemporary arts center, ERTH has a busy design and construction program incorporating the use of many non-traditional set, prop, costume, inflatable and puppetry disciplines.  In recent years ERTH has embraced new technologies to introduce computer-generated imagery and registered projection into its ever-growing box of tricks.

ERTH has received project funding from Arts NSW and the Australia Council.

CREATIVE TEAM:

SCOTT WRIGHT – ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Scott Wright is a co-founder of Erth Visual and Physical Inc. and its artistic director since inception in 1990.  He trained as a dancer and choreographer in Victoria, Australia and is a multi-skilled artist incorporating puppetry (one of his greatest loves), movement, acting, aerial, stilts and pyrotechnics. During this period, Scott steered the company through many twists and turns, creating a successful national and international touring profile.  Scott has directed most of Erth’s successful touring shows, and worked with a large variety of national and international companies and institutions, individual artists and community groups. Scott is currently focusing on the survival of indigenous folklore, exploring how ancient stories can be retrieved and presented to new audiences.  This exploration takes him to remote communities throughout Australia, to meet with elders, learning and developing methods in which puppetry can tell stories of ancient creatures and landscapes.

SHARON KERR – EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Sharon is a founding and core member of Erth.  Originally trained as a school teacher majoring in drama, Sharon has much performance experience. Prior to helping form Erth, she spent five years in contemporary dance theatre with emphasis on improvisational movement.  Puppetry became a natural extension of her performance experience.  Some of her performance highlights include her aerial harness and flying work, effectively becoming a human marionette. Some of her more memorable flying locations were those from atop the sails of the Sydney Opera House, the spire of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne, the tower of Bingham Hall at Yale University, and from the 30^th floor of the Nge Ann skyscraper in Singapore.  Her roles within Erth are many and varied. Contributing to creative and performance direction, Sharon continues to perform, while assisting with the construction of props and costumes.  Sharon has steered the company for many years as its key administrator. 

ANNA YOUNG – GENERAL MANAGER

Anna has been in the entertainment industry all her working life.   She has applied her skills and extensive experience of the arts and cultural production to events both across Australia and internationally.   These range from music and film, with roles from performer to producer.  With a flair for production and management, she worked on "Spiegelworld" both in Las Vegas and NYC (2008-2009) and delivered the annual Australian  'G'day USA' Australia Plays Broadway concert event at Carnegie Hall (2009).  Anna has been with Erth since early 2011 and has become an invaluable family member helping the company grow further and develop new markets.  When people enquire as to her line of work, Anna enjoys the reply, "I manage Erth".

STEVE HOWARTH - DESIGNER

The dinosaurs and other creature puppets, as well as the flora and fauna that make up the set are designed by Steve, a founding and fulltime member of Erth. From the Erth studio workshop he supervises a team of artists in the creation of the puppets, sets, props, costumes and associated elements that constantly tour the nation and the globe. In this principle role he has worked with a wide variety of people and organizations, and across numerous media over the past twenty years.  The first 15 years were spent performing in, on, and dangling from, many of the creations that he now devotes his full time to building.  Now off stage, he oversees the daily production of giant, teeth-gnashing dinosaurs and inflatable monsters that live alongside traditional fine arts and textiles work, and increasingly, he is incorporates new disciplines such as digital animation.  Steve recently directed his first work Taniwha! for Auckland Museum in New Zealand, where he worked closely with indigenous storytellers weaving together threads of Maori folklore which was then presented by live actors, puppets, and projection. Steve also mentors design students from several tertiary institutions and assists emerging artists in the implementation of their respective crafts.  Steve also mentors design students from several tertiary institutions and assists emerging artists in the implementation of their respective crafts.

PHIL DOWNING – TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Phil has a distinct history working with interactive multimedia. After years as a musical performer, Phil set about reinventing his means of musical expression by creating unique and obscure musical instruments. This inspiration has led to the creation of numerous soundtracks for theatrical productions from 1999 thru 2012.  Delivery of video and imagery being an obvious progression, Phil has also worked with various technologies to incorporate physical interaction (with performers and audience members) into installations and performances, utilizing technologies such as infra-red, sonar and pressure sensors, Arduino programmable circuit boards and "Kinect" sensors.  With Erth, Phil has developed systems for automated delivery of sound, light and visual effects, and has designed stand-alone sound systems for their various creature puppets. “This one’s going to be a mad professor!,”  his Grandma proclaimed upon his birth.... She was possibly correct!

CURRICULUM | AGES

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS 

• Life science
• Natural history and Paleontology
• Asking questions
• Making observations, predictions, and connections
• Forming hypotheses / developing possible explanations
• Investigating and exploring the natural world
• Drawing conclusions
• Sharing findings with others

RECOMMENDED AUDIENCES
PUBLIC AUDIENCE: All ages
SCHOOL TIME AUDIENCE: Ages 5-10; Grades K-5

RAVES | REVIEWS

Good Morning Arizona visits ERTH'S Dinosaur Zoo Live in Mesa, AZ!

What they’re saying about ERTH’S Dinosaur Zoo Live

VENUES
"Erth's Dinosaur Zoo Live was fabulous! Great show, great cast - home run." - Lynn Dickerson, Gallo Center for the Arts, Modesto, CA

"I can’t tell you just how pleased we were with our experience presenting Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo.  We were a little nervous about the VIP experience, but every family there had a magnificent time.  The actors spoke with each and every child and made them feel like they were the only ones in the room. Not only were they polished performers, but they were truly passionate and knowledgeable about the subject matter.  They would have spent all day talking dinosaurs with those kids." - Jack Rogers, The Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, CO

"We loved Dino Zoo. The quality was excellent; the dinosaurs were child-friendly and the audience was truly able to interact with them during the meet and greet; the show's staff was made up of seasoned professionals who made our venue's job much easier, and, best of all, we had 3 sold out performances and extremely happy audiences." - Ronni Mandell, Director of Marketing, NYU Skirball, New York University, NY, NY

"Erth's Dinosaur Zoo Live is a top notch production and the dinosaurs were very life-like.   All the kids in the sold out show loved it!" - Aaron Zimmerman, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, San Antonio, TX

"Making America Jurassic again . . . Mesa can't get enough of Erth's Dinosaur Zoo Live. Kids loved it!" - Randy Vogel, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ

PRESS
“Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo delivers solid science as well as an extraordinary spectacle.” - New York Times

“A delightful and educational date with the dinos that provides visual oomph to rival ‘The Lion King’”. - Chicago Tribune

“It’s a rare and pleasurable work that manages technical brilliance, cultural insight and enchantment all in one go’.” - Sydney Morning Herald

“Dinosaur Zoo, with interaction and science at its core, is very different from any of the other dinosaur shows that I have seen … If like me, you have a dinosaur obsessed child or one that you can borrow to accompany you, Dinosaur Zoo is well worth a visit!” - What's on Stage London

“A witty, entertaining, and pleasingly informative ‘live animal presentation,’ introducing the dinosaurs of Australia.  Educational theatre at its best.” - The Stage London