Barking Gecko Arts


Barking Gecko Arts is a Western Australian professional theatre company for children and families. It was known variously as Barking Gecko Theatre Company, Barking Gecko Theatre and Barking Gecko until it re-merged with Awesome Arts in 2024, from which it had split in 1996.
WWW barkinggecko.com.au

History

John Saunders founded Acting Out in as a theatre company for children, touring schools and rural areas in Western Australia. The company became an independent, not-for-profit theatre company for young people and their families the same year under artistic director Grahame Gavin, renaming to Barking Gecko, also known as Barking Gecko Theatre and Barking Gecko Theatre Company.
In 1996, Awesome Arts split from Barking Gecko Theatre, and started presenting the annual Awesome International Arts Festival for Bright Young Things in Perth in the September school holidays each year.
The company has performed plays by Suzie Miller, including Driving Into Walls and Onefivezeroseven, but its most notable productions include Rabbits in 2015, Bambert's Book of Lost Stories in 2016, and House in 2021 and 2024.
In 2024, David Templeman, Minister for Arts and Culture, announced that Barking Gecko Theatre and Awesome Arts would merge as Barking Gecko Arts. Jenny Simpson would be festival director.

Description

Barking Gecko Arts is resident at the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, performing in the Heath Ledger and Studio Underground theatres. It also performs in school classrooms, halls, site-specific non-theatre venues and outdoor locations. The company tours productions across Australia, and has toured to Canada, US, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and Mexico.
The company also delivers drama programs for children aged 4 to 18 across Perth, as well as regional and remote Western Australia.
Barking Gecko Arts is a not-for-profit organisation, governed by a board of directors. Receiving federal and state government arts funding, as well as corporate sponsorship and ticket revenue, the company has an annual turnover of more than and employs more than 60 artists each year, primarily from Western Australia.

Awards

2015

The Rabbits won several awards, including:

2016

Bambert's Book of Lost Stories had a nomination and a win:
  • Helpmann Award – Best Presentation for Children
  • Helpmann Award Nomination – Best New Australian Work

2017