FOLLOWING its world premiere at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) and the WA Museum as a full-length showcase, independent interdisciplinary theatre company Too Close to the Sun will bring their striking contemporary production, Zoology, to the Kalamunda Performing Arts Centre (KPAC) on Friday, July 24.

“Too Close to the Sun is a defining voice in Perth’s live art and theatre-making community,” PICA chief executive officer Hannah Mathews said.

“Zoology is an extraordinary work about really big, really important, critical things,” WA Museum (Boola Bardip) creative producer Henry Slade said.

“Walking out of Zoology felt like waking up from a dream.”

Written and performed by award-winning Perth (Boorloo) based poet and performance maker Talya Rubin, and directed by Nick James, Zoology is a subverted performance lecture that seamlessly blends theatre, ritual, dance, and dream.

The 65-minute work about the current extinction crisis was inspired by slides found in a New York City antique shop of zoo animals in vibrant 1980s Ektachrome colours.

In the work, the animals tell their wordless story through movement that has absurdity and poignancy at its core.

The concept was born from Rubin’s childhood dream that she wanted to be “a ballerina and a gorilla” when she grew up.

To ground the work’s childhood themes, Rubin is joined on stage by two local young performers between the ages of nine and 11.

Zoology offers Perth Hills audiences a rare, visceral reconnection with inner wildness and a profound space for reflection.

The 65-minute performance of Zoology by Too Close to the Sun will be held at the Kalamunda Performing Arts Centre (KPAC), 48 Canning Road, Kalamunda on Friday, July 24, starting at 7:30pm.

Tickets are available from the KPAC box office or get them here.