August has been a month of wild invention. We locked ourselves in a rehearsal room for a design workshop on our new play — formerly known as Kabuliwala — but apparently that title is “problematic” in certain countries (which shall remain nameless… but let’s just say they like our pavlova a little too much). So now we’re madly searching for a new title. We’d already shot the poster. Of course.

Title trauma aside, the workshop was pure magic. Designer John Verryt revealed a set so clever on so many levels – literally. Composer David Ward played his music and filled the room with joy and delight. Puppet master Jon Coddington introduced us to a life-sized five-year-old girl operated kabuki-style by us three actors — intricate, graceful, and miraculously alive. Lighting wizard Sam Mence sprinkled his sorcery on Elizabeth Whiting’s gorgeous costumes until they practically glowed. Dramaturge and theatre Yoda, Murray Edmond, dispensed enigmatic wisdom such as, “In the middle of the play, the ending you will find.” We nodded sagely, not always sure what he meant, but certain he was right.

And then there’s director Justin Lewis — the calm in the creative storm somehow corralling all this glorious chaos into something that looks like… well, a play. If only we knew what to call the darn thing!