Kotuku and The Moon Child

A moving Performance that will make smile and cry. Puppetry and Masks for ages 4 to 94 years.

Life is good for the Moon Child in the security of her lunar home until one day her precious Orb of Moon Light falls to Earth. Determined to retrieve it, she sets out on an adventure and follows it through space all the way to Earth. Her Moon guardians are distraught at finding her missing and wonder if they will ever see her again.

Meanwhile on Earth, an old Kōtuku (White Heron) discovers the Orb while fossicking on the shoreline and claims it as her own treasure. Not wanting to return home without her Orb, the Moon Child adjusts to life on Earth. She befriends the creatures of the sea shore and explores the watery environment, while keeping her attention fixed on Kōtuku and the Orb. A storm changes everything.

Frightened, the Moon Child seeks shelter only to find the Kōtuku tangled in a fishing net, close to death. The Moon Child frees Kōtuku and as she recovers she gives up the Orb and flies away. Propelled by the Orb, the Moon Child leaves Earth and returns to her Moon home and is crowned a Moon Princess!

This story has grown from our love of myths and fairy tales and was shaped and inspired by the ​New Zealand landscape, particularly the Tasman Bay environment - its light and colours and bird life. Using many different forms of puppetry and ourhall mark low-tech/handmade aesthetic, this work crosses boundaries of language and culture, where stories and ideas are communicated without spoken word, but instead through visual imagery​and the power of music.