iPowerhouse ParramattaParramatta
The Dark
A walk-through show for ages 4 to 12 that turns the dark from scary to wondrous: a bedroom, a forest, a crystal tunnel and 800+ objects.
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Preview: written before the show opened
You walk in through a bedroom. It turns into a forest, then a gateway to a land of giants, with a crystal tunnel along the way. The Dark is the museum's show for children aged 4 to 12, and its whole pitch, in its own words, is that there is no need to be scared.
Former Sydney Theatre Company director Kip Williams developed it with designers Elizabeth Gadsby and Marg Horwell. More than 800 objects fill it, among them minerals, First Nations animations and things lent by Western Sydney children. A hundred children from across Western Sydney are its Guardians of The Dark, who shared stories of meeting the dark and offered treasures to go with them. For any parent still negotiating the night light, this is the official counter-argument.
It is free and drop-in, except on 7 and 8 November, when you book a free opening-weekend ticket. It is in the Neilson Foundation Gallery on Level 2, and it is planned to run over three years.
Look for
The crystal tunnel
A tunnel of crystals, one of the show's set pieces alongside the bedroom and the forest.
Bedroom to land of giants
The space changes shape, from a bedroom to a forest to a gateway into a land of giants.
The Guardians' treasures
Objects lent by Western Sydney children, the show's 100 Guardians of The Dark, alongside their stories of meeting the dark.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Rainy Days
- Small Kids
With kids
Made for ages 4 to 12 and free to enter. Prams are allowed throughout, and there are baby change tables in the accessible toilets on every level.
Also at Powerhouse Parramatta
On now nearby
Image credits
3
- The DarkCourtesy of Powerhouse Parramatta
- Jordan Gower: Does the moon know the well?Photograph: Jacquie Manning
- Powerhouse ParramattaPowerhouse Parramatta. Photo: Powerhouse Studio