Archive - Siren Theatre Company
Kate Gaul, and Early Collaborations
Choreographer | Movement Consultant | Photographer
Selected Archive Credit
I first met Kate Gaul in 1990 while performing in Wallflowering at the Peacock Theatre, Hobart, in Salamanca Place. At the time, none of us could have known how significant her directorial voice would become within Australian theatre.
Several years later, while attending a production at the Sydney Opera House, I noticed a familiar blonde head several rows in front of me and immediately recognised her. It was Kate. That chance moment marked the beginning of a series of collaborations that would span some of her formative directorial works.
I was fortunate to work with Kate on several productions during the early years of Siren Theatre Company. Each work was powerful, distinct, and formally ambitious, demanding different movement languages and physical vocabularies. These productions drew deeply on the expressive potential of the body, and I was engaged variously as Movement Director or Movement Consultant, responding to the specific dramaturgical needs of each piece.
The works included Hard Swallow (1998), Connie and Kevin and the Secret Life of Groceries (2001), The Gates of Egypt (2007), and Fox (2010). Fox, produced by Monkey Baa in association with Siren Theatre Company, was the final production I worked on with Kate before leaving Sydney for an extended period.
Since that time, Kate Gaul has built an extraordinary national and international reputation as a director of fine theatre works. Looking back, it is a privilege to have been part of that early creative period, contributing movement and physical storytelling to productions that continue to resonate within Australian theatre history.
Selected Siren Theatre Company Collaborations
Fox (2010), Monkey Baa in association with Siren Theatre Company
Movement Consultant: Raymond Mather
Director: Kate Gaul
The Gates of Egypt (2007), Belvoir St Theatre
Movement contribution: Raymond Mather
Director: Kate Gaul
Connie and Kevin and the Secret Life of Groceries (2001), Downstairs Belvoir St Theatre
Movement Director: Raymond Mather
Director: Kate Gaul
Hard Swallow (1998), Downstairs Belvoir St Theatre
Movement Director: Raymond Mather
Director: Kate Gaul
Siren Theatre Company, FOX (2010)
https://www.sirentheatreco.com/fox-2010
Fox (2010), National Tour
Monkey Baa Theatre for Young People / Siren Theatre Company
Fox, adapted from the award-winning book by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks, was a major national touring production created in collaboration between Monkey Baa Theatre for Young People and Siren Theatre Company.
Directed by Kate Gaul, the production premiered at the Seymour Centre, Sydney, in April 2010, before touring extensively across Australia, playing leading metropolitan and regional venues throughout New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory.
Raymond Mather served as Movement Consultant, shaping the physical language, ensemble dynamics, and emotional storytelling of the work. His contribution focused on integrating movement, gesture, and spatial design to support the production’s poetic narrative and heightened theatricality.
Fox received strong critical and media attention, with coverage in major publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, and The Hobart Mercury. The production was widely recognised for its powerful visual language, physical expressiveness, and emotional impact on young audiences.
This collaboration represents a significant chapter in Siren Theatre Company’s touring history and reflects Raymond Mather’s ongoing contribution to Australian theatre through movement direction, physical dramaturgy, and ensemble development.
Monkey Baa Theatre for Young People website listing for Fox (2010), showing official credit for Raymond Mather as Movement Consultant in the Monkey Baa and Siren Theatre Company collaboration.
Dress and technical rehearsal for Fox at the Seymour Centre, Sydney (2010), showing ensemble movement sequences developed under Raymond Mather’s movement direction for the Monkey Baa and Siren Theatre Company collaboration.
AusStage contributor record listing Raymond Mather as Choreographer for the national tour of Fox (2010), documenting performances across major venues throughout Australia and confirming his credited role within the Monkey Baa and Siren Theatre Company collaboration.
Feature review “Flight of fancy with enchanting Fox” published in The Sunday Telegraph, 11 April 2010 (11 April 2010), reviewing the Monkey Baa and Siren Theatre Company production and highlighting its physical storytelling, visual design, and emotional impact.
Review “Fantastic Mr Fox drives cracking kids’ fable” published in The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 April 2010, reviewing the Monkey Baa and Siren Theatre Company production and praising its storytelling, movement, visual design, and emotional depth.
Feature article “Animal magnetism” published in The Daily Telegraph (Theatre section), 6 April 2010, previewing the Monkey Baa and Siren Theatre Company production of Fox and highlighting its creative team, visual design, and physical theatre elements ahead of the national tour.
Published performance photograph from The Hobart Mercury feature “Animal magnetism” (2010), showing a key ensemble sequence from Fox at the Theatre Royal, Hobart, and reflecting the movement design and physical storytelling developed by Raymond Mather for the Monkey Baa and Siren Theatre Company collaboration.
Siren Theatre Company - Production Archive
https://www.sirentheatreco.com/past-productions-1
Siren Theatre Company, Connie and Kevin and the Secret Life of Groceries (2001)
https://www.sirentheatreco.com/connie-kevin-2001
Siren Theatre Company, Connie and Kevin and the Secret Life of Groceries postcard (2001)
Siren Theatre Company, Hard Swallow (1998)
https://www.sirentheatreco.com/hard-swallow-1998
Siren Theatre Company, Hard Swallow postcard (1998)
Theatre production program documenting Hard Swallow, a work by Mira Todd, presented by Siren Theatre Company.
ART1 Archive Context
This page is included in the ART1 Archive, preserving professional and cultural work undertaken before ART1.
View other works and collaborations prior to ART1 in the Selected Credits.