The Owl’s Apprentice

A lively, funny, interactive show combining shadow puppetry and physical comedy into a gorgeous story about our Australian animals and gaining wisdom.

Owl’s aren’t born wise you know, they have to learn it from somewhere. 

A young owl named Poot Poot is sent to study at Owl school. He’s not like the other owls: he misses his family, he just wants to go home. He knows the only way he can go home is by gaining “wisdom”, but he doesn’t know what that is yet. 

On his journey he meets animals who share with him their own special kind of wisdom. He meets a wombat who shows him about persistence, a lyrebird who teaches him about listening carefully, a kookaburra who shares with him the value of humour, an echidna who shares about resilience, and a platypus who shows him how to accept himself and his own differences. 

Poot Poot finds out that wisdom isn’t just one thing, it’s a collection of many things you learn every day. Will he pass the final test and become wise enough to save the forest? As well as a gorgeous voyage into the realm of shadow puppetry, it is about our Australian animals and gaining wisdom. 

Performed by Jenny Ellis, a puppeteer of more than twenty years, who weaves the whole story together with a single set of hands, playing multiple characters at once.

Bunjil Place audiences may remember her shows A Little Bit of Blue (2024), The Fish That Wanted To Fly (2023) and Spike The Echidna (2021). 

Recommended for children aged 4 to 10 years old and their grown ups. 

Credits

Performed by: Jenny Ellis
Written by: Jenny Ellis & Anne Brooksbank
Directed by: Jacob Williams & Clare Batholomew
Music by: Kelly Ryall & Greg Sheehan 
Puppetry mentoring by: Richard Bradshaw
Lighting Design by: Danny Pettinglll
Puppets and Sets by: Jenny Ellis, Dayna Morrissey, Freya Pitt, Lois Conlan and Jeremy Lavender