ViV! – is a children’s theatre (5-12yrs) show about an adventurous, tough and sassy girl who lives with disabilities and her little sister ‘Lil’. ViV! merges digital landscapes, puppetry and choreography with an original score played live. Our heroine, Viv, takes the audience on an immersive and sensory journey. She transports us into her imagination, to meet the quirky friends who surf her unique brainwaves and celebrate her for all her “ViVness”.
ViV! offers audiences the chance to meet a hero unlike they have seen before. It is a universal story about familial love, childhood play and how magical we appear in the eyes of our friends. It is a theatrical love letter to the writer, Cath McNamara’s real-life niece, and to all families where disability and inclusion is a fact of daily life. ViV! incorporates immersive audience interaction, switching between the beautiful tactile worlds of puppetry/ movement into highly technical digital projection.
ViV! A sensory journey into the imagination
at Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre
Thursday 21 August, Friday 22 August, Saturday 23 August, 11am and 6.30pm
Creatives, cast and crew
Great feedback
How the show was made
Production stills
Community engagement
Meet some of the creatives
Meet some of the creatives
Access information
PARTNERS
The creative development of Viv was supported by Local Giants, a national program brought to you by a partnership between Performing Arts Connections (PAC) Australia, Performing Lines and Regional Arts Australia.
ViV! is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.
Supported by The Australian Government through Creative Australia and through the Regional Arts Fund (through Regional Arts NSW)
Supported by Wilga Station.
Supported by Carenne Support Limited.
Thanks to Box of Birds / Stalker Theatre for their ongoing collaboration on Viv! and support with digital design and projection.
Thanks to Cafe Viva for opening night catering.
Produced by: Arts OutWest and supported by BMEC, Charles Sturt University.
PROJECT NEWS
Performers from Compareo and ViV! open the week of events at Bathurst Hospital
The many complexities of the project were also its biggest strengths: a brand-new work, puppetry, projections, live original music, Auslan interpretation, creating sensitive theatre design and new low-sensory spaces for the audience, meaningful engagement with local schools, working with an extraordinary and diverse (paid, professional) cast including performers with disability.
Thursday 21- Saturday 23 August, 2025, BMEC. ViV! is nine years old. She is adventurous, sassy and the heroine of a brand-new interactive play for children by local professional playwright and Director, Catherine McNamara. Catherine has assembled a stellar team of highly regarded arts industry creatives locally and from across Australia to share the story of her real-life nieces ViV! and Lil’ – her inspiration for
the play. TICKETS NOW ON SALE
In ViV! Bathurst’s own Compareo group take on performance roles.
ViV! is nine years old, adventurous, sassy and the heroine of a brand-new interactive play for children premiering at BMEC August 21-23.
Tue, 12 Aug, 4pm – 5pm at Bathurst Library. A special Book Week celebration. Perfect for ages 6 – 12 years. In the lead up to ViV! performances.
What a joy it was for some of the ViV! cast to visit Bathurst Broadcasters to talk about the show that premieres at BMEC in August.
Four Central West projects will receive support from the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund in 2025.
Who are the local Central West artists featured at Regional Arts NSW’s The Work of Art in Orange 14 – 15 November?
In development for 2025. ViV! – is a children’s theatre (5-12yrs) show about an adventurous, tough and sassy girl who lives with disabilities and her little sister ‘Lil’.
