Terrapin

Matter Era

Background image: Low-lit stage with a fur element resting on the surface, a white bone-like structure emerging from it, with a pink thread extending upward.
Book now
Credit: Matter Era creative development, 2026. Image: Rosie Hastie
Commissioned by BAC, supported by Cockayne 10th Anniversary Grants for the Arts By Terrapin and Tim Spooner (UK)

When and What

  • Future
  • Public Space

Summary

  • Boldly exploring the possibilities of puppetry and animatronics.
  • A 70 minute performance and a durational installation
  • A unique collaboration between Terrapin and UK-based artist Tim Spooner
  • Suitable for festivals, galleries and theatre spaces

Impact

  • Supported by the Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program and focused on building cross-country connections between artists
  • Developed over two intensive international residencies in London and Hobart
We see a low-lit stage with scattered oorbeez, in the foreground there is a white bone-like structure rising from the surface, and pink threads extending upward and orange/yellow bits on top of the bone.
Matter Era creative development, 2026. Image: Rosie Hastie
Dark stage with scattered oorbeez, blurred pink threads in the background, and a curved piece of pink electrical conduit in the foreground.
Matter Era creative development, 2026. Image: Rosie Hastie

Description

Matter Era invites you into a post-human world - an ecosystem imagined entirely without people.

Part installation, part performance, it blends experimental puppetry with animated objects and materials to bring a living, unpredictable landscape to life.

A shifting stage begins to breathe as unseen performers animate creatures that explore, flock and interact in strange, captivating ways. Fur-covered beings stir; bone-like structures rise and connect; strings and pulleys lift objects into uncanny forms. Each moment evolves into the next as Madeleine Flynn’s (Aus) live-mixed soundtrack mirrors the rhythms of this emerging life.

Pullout quote

It feels like an old fashioned puppetry trope in a way… we were quite interested in what happens when you go back to the human beings being invisible.
– Tim Spooner

Upcoming performances

2026

Low-lit stage with oorbeez scattered across the surface, fur elements suspended and resting, and white bone-like structures connected by pink threads.
Matter Era creative development, 2026. Image: Rosie Hastie

Interested in Matter Era?

Get in touch

  • Matter Era oorbeez are scattered on a dark surface with small white bone-like structures emerging.
    Matter Era creative development, 2026. Image: Rosie Hastie
  • A low-lit stage with oorbeez scattered across the surface and a white, bone-like structure connected by pink threads.
    Matter Era creative development, 2026. Image: Rosie Hastie
  • A wide angle of the Matter Era stage, we see on either side of the stage truss with big lights shining down, it's very low-lit, with oorbeez scattered across the surface, white bone-like structures, pink threads, and fur elements.
    Matter Era creative development, 2026. Image: Rosie Hastie

Partners

Terrapin and Matter Era are supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program.

  • Commissioned by
  • Supported by

Terrapin

Donate

Terrapin reaches into all corners of Tasmania with innovative performance and impactful programs. We give students their first experience of the performing arts, bring laughter and connection into aged care, and support emerging local creatives to grow and thrive.

Support us with a tax-deductible donation today

Sponsored by

Proudly sponsored by Creative Australia and Tasmanian Government

  • Creative Australia
  • Tasmanian Government

Subscribe to our monthly eNews

You’ll get a deep dive into a project with an artist, a dispatch from one of our touring teams, or a piece of research our team finds interesting hitting your inbox soon!

Contact

77 Salamanca Place, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 7004 info@terrapin.org.au

© Terrapin 2026
Child safety