Part climate-catastrophe, part clown show--
KOAL is a one-woman show for the end of the world.
the project
As wildfires tear through Australia, a baby koala, a coal miner and an Indigenous girl desperately strive to hold onto their homes before all burns and turns to ash.
KOAL is an interactive solo-show, performed by Jacinta Yelland and directed by Trey Lyford, that immerses the audience in the middle of the 2019 Australian bushfires. The show follows two eyewitnesses to this climate catastrophe; Koal, a baby koala recovering at a wildlife sanctuary after being saved from a nearby wildfire, and Stevo, a career coal miner trapped in a collapsed mine hundreds of meters underground. Woven throughout is the story of Minah, an Indigenous girl who was removed from her home and interned by her government during WWII.
Using documentary theatre, clown, and audience interaction, KOAL takes the audience from laughter to tears as it explores what is
lost when your home is erased.
KOAL premiered at the 2023 Philadelphia Fringe Festival and was the winner of the 5 Star Award. In January 2024, KOAL was presented at Ars Nova, NYC and in May will have its Australian debut at Theatre Works.
KOAL is an interactive solo-show, performed by Jacinta Yelland and directed by Trey Lyford, that immerses the audience in the middle of the 2019 Australian bushfires. The show follows two eyewitnesses to this climate catastrophe; Koal, a baby koala recovering at a wildlife sanctuary after being saved from a nearby wildfire, and Stevo, a career coal miner trapped in a collapsed mine hundreds of meters underground. Woven throughout is the story of Minah, an Indigenous girl who was removed from her home and interned by her government during WWII.
Using documentary theatre, clown, and audience interaction, KOAL takes the audience from laughter to tears as it explores what is
lost when your home is erased.
KOAL premiered at the 2023 Philadelphia Fringe Festival and was the winner of the 5 Star Award. In January 2024, KOAL was presented at Ars Nova, NYC and in May will have its Australian debut at Theatre Works.
the process
KOAL is a one-woman clown show instigated by Jacinta Yelland about the catastrophic 2019 Australian Bush fires. In 2022, she brought on Trey Lyford as the director and co-creator with the query of how to create a comedy about climate catastrophe. The process began by playing with the characters of Koal the Koala and the hapless wildlife guardian Curtis. From there the work took shape - additional characters and scenarios were born from the piece’s dramaturgical inquiries including several personal stories from Jacinta’s family history — particularly, her maternal grandmother’s internment in the Aboriginal Settlement of Cherbourg in the 1940s.
Throughout the process, the landscapes and wildlife of Australia became a major inspiration. The creators quickly realized that the dramatic structure of the show could (and should) call on the structure of the trees that burned. In rehearsals they began to see how the branches of the different stories divided and then smashed back together, knotting and twisting like the mangled bodies of so many trees they’d come across in their research. The overstory of the canopy and the understory of the tree’s roots echoed the parallel journeys of the tree bound koala and the underground life of the coal miner. Ultimately, these intertwining collisions inspired not only the writing, but the structure of the devising, staging, designing, and performing of the show as well.
This winding, twisting, connected story also mimicked the complex wrapping of a traditional weave from the Indigenous peoples of Australia seen in the work of fashion designer Grace Lillian Lee—the grasshopper weave of Jacinta’s family. This weave was another structural inspiration and was incorporated into the set. All of this is to say that the transitions and surprises of the staging are integral to the work. It shouldn’t feel like a scene, then another scene, etc. It should all twist and turn into one body, one story - a fugue of fibers, a bend of branches and roots twisted into a tale of our burning global moment.
KOAL has been developed with the assistance of The Work, The Puffin Foundation, Ltd., Fresh Ground Pepper NYC, Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists, and gimmick.
Throughout the process, the landscapes and wildlife of Australia became a major inspiration. The creators quickly realized that the dramatic structure of the show could (and should) call on the structure of the trees that burned. In rehearsals they began to see how the branches of the different stories divided and then smashed back together, knotting and twisting like the mangled bodies of so many trees they’d come across in their research. The overstory of the canopy and the understory of the tree’s roots echoed the parallel journeys of the tree bound koala and the underground life of the coal miner. Ultimately, these intertwining collisions inspired not only the writing, but the structure of the devising, staging, designing, and performing of the show as well.
This winding, twisting, connected story also mimicked the complex wrapping of a traditional weave from the Indigenous peoples of Australia seen in the work of fashion designer Grace Lillian Lee—the grasshopper weave of Jacinta’s family. This weave was another structural inspiration and was incorporated into the set. All of this is to say that the transitions and surprises of the staging are integral to the work. It shouldn’t feel like a scene, then another scene, etc. It should all twist and turn into one body, one story - a fugue of fibers, a bend of branches and roots twisted into a tale of our burning global moment.
KOAL has been developed with the assistance of The Work, The Puffin Foundation, Ltd., Fresh Ground Pepper NYC, Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists, and gimmick.
the artists
Jacinta Yelland (creator / performer) Jacinta Yelland is an Australian theatre creator and performer based in Philadelphia, USA. She has collaborated with David Gordon, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Opera Philadelphia, Quintessence Theatre Group, McCarter Theatre Center, Lightning Rod Special, People’s Light, Philadelphia Artists’ Collective, Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists and The Berserker Residents. She holds an MFA in Devised Performance from University of the Arts/Pig Iron Theatre Company, completed the Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre Company Internship, and was supported by Arts Queensland to study at École Philippe Gaulier, Paris. She is the co-artistic director of inFLUX Theatre Collective. Their debut show, The Choice, was co-produced by HERE Arts Center in New York City as part of their 2022 Co-Op series. Jacinta has been supported by Australia Council for the Arts, Arts Queensland, American Australian Association, Network of Ensemble Theaters, City of Philadelphia, The Puffin Foundation Ltd., and The Work. She has been an artist- in-residence at Fresh Ground Pepper (USA), Bethany Arts Community (USA), Les Rochers (France), and Brunåkra (Sweden). Jacinta is currently on the Board of Pig Iron Theatre Company.
Trey Lyford (director) Trey Lyford is an actor, director, designer and play fabricator. He has been creating original works for the stage for nearly two decades and most recently with his theatre company - gimmick. Lyford is the founding Co-Artistic Director of rainpan 43 where he has, along with colleague Geoff Sobelle, created and performed in all of their works to date. Following a world tour of r43’s first piece all wear bowlers (2005 Drama Desk Nomination, Innovative Theatre Award), r43 followed up with Amnesia Curiosa, the OBIE award-winning kinetic junk sculpture play machines, machines, machines, machines, machines, machines machines, and the much toured absurd magic show Elephant Room. In 2020 they premiered the commissioned ZOOM performance work Elephant Room: Dust From the Stars at the Philadelphia FringeArts Festival as well as LA's Center Theater Group. He has performed his original works in four continents including venues across the U.S. such as LA's Center Theatre Group, Philadelphia FringeArts, HERE Arts Center, St. Ann’s Warehouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, Studio Theater, Arena Stage, and theaters throughout NYC. Further support for his work includes grants from Creative Capital, NEFA, NYSCA, and PEW Center for Arts & Heritage. Lyford is also an Associate Artist with the Civilians and a faculty member at UArts and the Pig Iron MFA in Devised Performance. MFA: UCSD
Additional Credits:
Ethan Mentzer: Original Music & Sound DesignPayton Smith: Set Design
Barbaric Yawp Workshop: Masks
Emmie Parker: Stage Manager
Grace Lillian Lee: Costume Consultant
Trey Lyford (director) Trey Lyford is an actor, director, designer and play fabricator. He has been creating original works for the stage for nearly two decades and most recently with his theatre company - gimmick. Lyford is the founding Co-Artistic Director of rainpan 43 where he has, along with colleague Geoff Sobelle, created and performed in all of their works to date. Following a world tour of r43’s first piece all wear bowlers (2005 Drama Desk Nomination, Innovative Theatre Award), r43 followed up with Amnesia Curiosa, the OBIE award-winning kinetic junk sculpture play machines, machines, machines, machines, machines, machines machines, and the much toured absurd magic show Elephant Room. In 2020 they premiered the commissioned ZOOM performance work Elephant Room: Dust From the Stars at the Philadelphia FringeArts Festival as well as LA's Center Theater Group. He has performed his original works in four continents including venues across the U.S. such as LA's Center Theatre Group, Philadelphia FringeArts, HERE Arts Center, St. Ann’s Warehouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, Studio Theater, Arena Stage, and theaters throughout NYC. Further support for his work includes grants from Creative Capital, NEFA, NYSCA, and PEW Center for Arts & Heritage. Lyford is also an Associate Artist with the Civilians and a faculty member at UArts and the Pig Iron MFA in Devised Performance. MFA: UCSD
Additional Credits:
Ethan Mentzer: Original Music & Sound DesignPayton Smith: Set Design
Barbaric Yawp Workshop: Masks
Emmie Parker: Stage Manager
Grace Lillian Lee: Costume Consultant