WANTOK


Bringing the stories, songs and cheeky humour of Papua New Guinea and Australia to parks and public spaces across Birmingham this August!

Alyson Joyce, an Australian artist, is wearing a feathered headdress and face painted dots around her eyes and cheeks. She has one hand clasping the back of her head, and one pointing towards the sky.

Presented by Open Theatre, this is theatre done differently: outdoors, interactive and accessible to all. A re-imagining of traditional “Sing-Sing” celebrations, WANTOK features riotous costumes, music, movement and interactive comedy that educates and entertains. Running for 60 minutes, performances are predominantly non-verbal and compelling to audiences of all ages – from wary teenagers to seasoned culture vultures!

With WANTOK, everyone is welcome to come laugh, dance and sing – or just watch on – as the irrepressible energy of the Antipodes comes to summertime Brum. Using traditional playground games and the history and culture of Papua New Guinea and Australia, WANTOK features world-class international performers alongside Birmingham’s Open Theatre actors.

Alyson Joyce, an Australian artist, is standing with her arms crossed in an X in front of her. She has face painted white dots around her eyes and cheeks.

Watch our WANTOK film! 

If you came along to enjoy WANTOK, or you missed it, our WANTOK film captures all the fun from Summer 2022…

 

Thanks to our Funders

Birmingham 2022 Festival Commonwealth Games
Made possible with Heritage Fund
Logo - Funded by British Council
Supported using public funding by Arts Council England

If you would like to find out more about us or the programmes we run, get in touch, or better still…

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