From the outset Erths Dinosaur make no pretence of not being puppets – and yet they still capture a sense of reality that is thrilling and captivating.

When: Sat 1 – Sun 2 August 2015, 11am (*relaxed performance), 2pm and 4pm.  Performance is 50 minutes (no interval) and recommended for 5yr+ 

Where: Venue: Fairfax Studio, The Arts Centre Melbourne (Plenty of parking & amenities/facilities for all abilities – undercover parking and off street in local vicinity – special needs access/lifts and performance)

Cost: $24.00, more information about other shows www.erth.com.au

Thank you to guest reviewer Sally T. Ridden for these fabulous words and photos.  Her son is mad for dinosaurs.

What do you call a dinosaur sleeping? A dinosnore!  Too easy – well then when were dinosaurs last around? Why the 80’s… was one keen child’s answer, possibly confused with Duran Duran! Welcome to our happy place, where kids who roar and stomp dinosaur enter a unique realistic world of prehistoric creatures.  An intimate indoor performance fascinates the little minds, involving, educating and entertaining with an amazing array of prehistoric animals each with their own personalities and characteristics. Amazing puppets, with sophisticated design and innovative technology, whose movements are controlled by strings, rods or hand/body movements.

They tell you straight up, they are puppets but they are bigger and better than ever. These dinosaurs with their extraordinarily creative and imaginative work still manage to instantaneously interactively instil screams and squeals to even the toughest kid(s) and a whole lot of laughs and entertainment for the audience and adults if you are brave and lucky to be invited onto stage.  It’s not easy to not be scared from our third row seats – the sheer noise and likeness would surely be terrifying for those in the “buffet section” (aka the front row) or onstage where you are taught the brace position to protect yourself.  Better still stand and pretend to be a tree so the dinosaur does not eat you! If you scare easily I suggest nabbing a seat at the middle or back! In our case however, it was all I could do to stop my three year old son from self-inviting himself down to meet and greet them as he has no such fear, apparently.

I understand why 2014 was a sell-out season given the opportunities to assist, help and care, touch, feel and feed, and for one lucky dino fan even be fed to Erth’s family of dinosaurs.  Our journey is through prehistoric Australia, connecting us to science and palaeontology.  We first meet the baby from the early cretaceous period some 110-115 million years back – a Mini Paravertebra (a small ankylosaur – armoured dinosaur) discovered near Roma, Queensland. Also still just a baby in arms the New Zealand Tree Lizard or Oak Reptile (Ornithischia) Dryosaur.

Mums then have a very special section all to themselves, with humour only adults would truly understand.  A Meganeura – a gigantic primitive dragonfly was blindly gifted to a mum. Then aLeaellynasaura was called out on stage by everyone mimicking the sounds of kissing. 

“Can I get a victim – oops volunteer please?”  There’s no dino event without a Tyrannosaur as we all know.  A fossil was once found at Dinosaur Cove, in Victoria! 

They saved the biggest to last, and a very special moment was shared when a very little girl fed the gigantic herbivore Titanosaur (not carnivore luckily for the girls family), When they are next in town, don’t miss this show.