Born in A Taxi & NCM present
VELVETEEN RABBIT
The Twyford – Theatre Venue
Saturday 4 October 2025
2 shows: 10.00am and 1.00pm
A must-see for families and anyone who has ever cherished a beloved toy!
Velveteen Rabbit touches on themes of friendship, loss and change in a beautiful and uplifting way. A thoughtful and hilarious reimagination of the 100 year old book The Velveteen Rabbit.
- Show Length: 1 hour (no interval)
- Genre: Family Theatre
- Ages: Suitable for the whole family, especially ages 4 – 12 and their grownups
Children under 2 can attend for free provided they sit in your lap. Children over 2 must occupy a seat.
This show has been designed as a sensory-friendly experience. There is NO fog, smoke, haze, flashing or strobing lights, or lasers. - Photo opportunity with the performers after the show in the Theatre Foyer!
- Tickets: Adult $25 | Concession $20 | Child Under 12 $15 | Group 4 $64 ($16.00 each) + BF
Booking Fee 50c per ticket plus 2.5% card processing fee - Discount for Twyford Subscribers – check your e-news email for promo code
- Twyford Gift Certificates are valid for this performance
- Please note that there is tiered seating in the Theatre. Contact the box office to book a seat in Row J if you have a wheelchair or mobility disability – all other rows in the Theatre are accessible by steps only. Best alternative: Row H (2 steps only).
- The Twyford Foyer Box Office and Cafe open 1 hour before the show for coffees, ice creams, drinks and snacks.
- Book now to avoid disappointment!
ABOUT THE SHOW
Lights! Cameras! Action! Set within a film shoot, layered with live projections, Physical Theatre Company ‘Born in a Taxi’ thoughtfully and hilariously reimagines this 100 year old children’s story by Margery Williams.
This is a show where the toys are in charge on stage! Be sure to bring your own special toy as your VIP guest (or borrow one from our friendly ushers if you forget!).
One of those rare stories that dare to tease out complex themes of love, loss and change in a way that allows children to connect with them, Velveteen Rabbit is about a toy rabbit who becomes real…but how did it happen? In the hands of Born in a Taxi, the story is infused with dynamic audience participation, live and recorded music with live stream video and projections layered into the work that plays with multiple scales that reflect the perspective of a child. Playful, visual and poetic. A must-see for families and anyone who has ever cherished a beloved toy!
“This is a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful piece of work”
– Anne-Marie Peard, Smart Arts with Richard Watts on Triple RRR Radio“We cannot stop thinking about your wonderful performance yesterday. My three children have been acting out scenes from my son’s bottom bunk with their teddies since returning home…. an absolute highlight for our school holidays. PS we also can’t stop doing the lobster boy dance.”
– Audience Feedback“The Velveteen Rabbit show today hooked in my 68 year old, grumpy tradie brother as well as my 3 year old granddaughter. Just beautiful, thank you.”
– Audience Feedback
Velveteen Rabbit is created by Born in a Taxi, commissioned by Monash University Performing Arts Centre and supported by Creative Victoria.
TThe Merimbula performance has been supported by the RISE Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand program – an Australian Government initiative.
Here’s a sneak peek behind the scenes….
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Born in a Taxi is an award winning physical theatre ensemble, recognised internationally for creating spectacular participatory and interactive events for people of all ages.
Established in 1989, Born in a Taxi is led by artistic directors Carolyn Hanna and Penny Baron. An independent, artist-run and award winning physical theatre company whose artists are internationally recognised as masters of improvisation. Producing original, physically driven and participatory works in theatres, site-specific and outdoor context, that focus on real-time co-creation.
Born in a Taxi are in a perpetual state of research and discovery, uncovering deeper nuances in the relationship between performer, audience and place. Taxi increasingly shares their methodologies through teaching at institutions including VCA
and Monash University and since 2014 have begun turning their expertise to social impact projects – big ideas through deep engagement. Their social and environmental projects have created partnerships with Zoos Victoria, Health Issues Centre, Council of the Ageing and RMIT.
In 2019 Taxi represented 150 works at home and abroad and celebrated its 30th anniversary.
Carolyn Hanna: Co-Artistic Director / Performer
Carolyn Hanna is a multi disciplinary, multi award winning artist engaged in performing, devising, directing and teaching for the last 30 years. A member of Born in a Taxi since 1996, currently co-artistic director, key performer, and core
co-creator, contributing heavily to the conceptual development of many of their works including commissions from Melbourne International Festival, Arts Centre Melbourne, Commonwealth Games and Melbourne Museum. She is a guest teacher of collaborative performance at VCA and Monash University. As an artist she is interested in physical embodiment, the unknown, public space, mortality, instincts, limits and the nuances of human connection. She is deeply interested in making
responsive, participatory and playful work for young audiences.
Fiona Roake: Performer / Singer / Composer
Trained at the John Bolton Theatre School, Melbourne 1994, Fiona Roake has been working for 35 years as an independent theatre maker, performer, director, singer and songwriter with extensive experience in composition for theatre. She has maintained her songwriting practice throughout this time. She is a multi-instrumentalist – voice, keys, bass, and ukulele. She holds a BA (Hons 1st) in theatre and literary theory 1993, University of Canterbury, NZ and completed a 2 year Solo
Residency in Theatre Arts, VUT, Melbourne 2011. Fiona was a founding member, composer and performer with Melbourne based COMPANY 13 from 2006-2020, – Spit, D.E.A.D., Grimm, Blouse, The Hunter. The Hunted and Macbeth. She received the GREEN ROOM AWARD for Sound Design in Independent Theatre 2006 for theatre piece Haul Away. She has a long-standing relationship with Born in a Taxi as director, performer and guest composer.
Phoebe Mason Performer
Phoebe is a Pākeha New Zealander of Irish, Scottish and English ancestry. She currently lives on unceded Wurundjeri Country in Naarm, Melbourne (Australia). She is a physical theatre performer, with an active practice spanning devised physical comedy, therapeutic clown, Playback theatre, improvisation and theatre.
Lily Fish: Co-Director
Lily Fish is a theatre maker, performer, director and playwright based in Naarm. They are a founding member of queer physical theatre ensemble PO PO MO CO and all ages sketch comedy and music ensemble The Wholesome Hour. Their show ‘Jofus and the Plank’ won ‘Best Solo’ at New Zealand Fringe and ‘Best Physical Theatre’ at Fringe at the Edge. Their play ‘Yarn’ is published through PlayLab.
Michael Havir: Sound Design
Michael is a musician, composer, sound designer and performer with a broad multidisciplinary practice focusing on collaboration with animators, dancers, physical performers, theatre makers, VJ’s and music ensembles. Working with artists as varied as Yothu Yindi, Toni Childs, Born in a Taxi, The Village People, Yumi Umiuare, Danceworks, Polyglot and Chamber Made Opera. Recipient of an ARIA award (2016 and 2019) with the Melbourne Ska Orchestra, an ATOM award, and was Australia’s entrant at the MILIA festival France for Three Mile Creek (with multimedia artist Alyssa Rothwell).
David Splatt: Set Design and Build
David Splatt is an internationally recognised and multi-award winning artist known far and wide for his whimsical style of silent clowning and charming vaudevillian sensibilities. In addition to his performance based work, David has also gained a reputation for his specialised design based work in the areas of circus, puppetry and theatre having designed and built props, sets, costumes and puppets for NICA (National Institute of Circus Arts), Bluey (award-winning animated series) and Dummies Corp (award-winning circus company), to name just a few.
Nick Barlow: Costume Design and Creation
Nick is a multidisciplinary artist who has also worked as a performer, puppeteer and maker with Polyglot Theatre, Peepshow Inc, Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, A Blanck Canvas, Melinda Hetzel & Co., Sarah Austin, Cirque Du Soleil and was puppeteer on ‘War Horse’ for the Australian tour.