Box of Birds Testimonials for Festival Of Dangerous Ideas 2026

ADRIAN BURNETT

Head of Programming CARRIAGEWORKS

 As one of Australia's most renowned contemporary multi-arts organisations, Carriageworks supports artists in presenting significant new works across multiple art forms. We're excited to continue our relationship with Stalker Theatre through their Box of Birds co-brand. In my previous role as Director of New Annual Festival in Newcastle, I developed a productive working relationship with the company.

Stalker has been an innovator in physical theatre practice in Sydney for over 30 years. Through its co- brand Box of Birds, it has extended that innovation by integrating physical practice with digital technology. Its ability to work across multiple theatrical platforms—combining 360-degree projections, augmented reality, and motion capture with physical performance—creates experiences that blend story, poetics, thought provoking ideas and stunning moving graphics.

After a very successful season with Carriageworks in 2024 with their work Creature, for 2026 I can confirm our enthusiasm in Box of Birds presenting Small Blue Thing as part of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas.

Travis Cardona 
Head of First Nations
National Institute of Dramatic Art

“I was impressed by the calibre of the work that I saw and the potential of Small Blue Thing to be truly ground-breaking in immersive storytelling.

From its ability to tell stories from an intercultural perspective, and in the way that this immersive work will attract new types of audiences to participate in cultural experiences.

Small Blue Thing stands out for its innovative approach to storytelling, blending traditional performance techniques with cutting-edge technology. By incorporating immersive visuals of space and Earth, it aims to transport audiences into a heightened state of awareness, fostering empathy and understanding.

 I will support this project by helping ensure that the works and sharing that occur as part of this project will follow the appropriate cultural protocols as appropriate to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Communities and relevant protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property.

 As an artist I have known of the company’s ground-breaking intercultural work with both Rhoda Roberts and Stephen Page and have confidence in the company’s philosophy and adherence regarding cultural protocols.”

Professor Andrew Johnston
Research Director Animal Logic ACADEMY
UTS

“Over the past ten years, our previous collaborations with Stalker/Box of Birds have been very positive for us. We have developed a sophisticated approach to interaction design in live performance which has resulted in touring performances and several research publications. In addition, the software we have developed has been made available to performers and researchers in New South Wales and around the world.

The new program of work that Stalker/Box of Birds and The Visualisation Institute are proposing to undertake in 2026 to 2027 will add to our understanding of interactive systems in live performance, generate research papers in the live performance / digital interactive arts interface and enable us to further develop the capability of our technical systems.

We are particularly excited to partner with Stalker /Box of Birds on Small Blue Thing, a collaboration which bridges artists working with Stalker/Box of Birds, UTS, NAISDA , NIDA and the many presenters Box of Birds has links to both around Australia and the globe.”

Kim Walker, 

Chief Executive Officer 

NAISDA 

I am writing to enthusiastically support Box of Birds / Stalker Theatre.

NAISDA is proud to be the training institute that has nurtured some of the most esteemed First Nation dancers both on and off stages for the past 43 years. It is partnerships such as the one we have with Box of Birds that creates a NAISDA dancer that upon graduation is a multi-disciplined artist that can move between dance, drama, and physical theatre and increasingly, digital technology.

Over the last several years, I have become aware of the artistic and technical innovation that is being developed by the Box of Birds / Stalker team. I have seen their work and was extremely proud of the work of NAISDA graduates in the company.

After seeing their production of Layer in Sydney, I invited some of the Box of Birds team to teach a one-week residency at NAISDA for our Diploma Students in 2024.

This one-week residency produced some outstanding results for our students and drew their attention to the possibilities in embracing new approaches to dance with immersive technologies.

In 2026 we will expand our collaboration with Box of Birds and I look forward to the company working with our future graduating students.

 As an artist I have known the company’s work for many years and have full confidence in their philosophy and adherence regarding cultural protocols.

 I fully support Box of Birds and encourage you to give this innovative company the presentation opportunities that they so rightly deserve.

Olivia Ansell
Festival Director
Luminato Festival Canada

“I have been aware of the works of Stalker / Box of Birds for over the last two decades, and I can attest to the professional rigor, research, and to the contributions that the Stalker team have made to theatre as an artform in Australia. Their works have frequently been shown on the national and international stage to much acclaim. Their plans for their future works are savvy to the current theatre era we are in ; a rapidly evolving “experience led” and “audience as participant” genre. 

The virtual and augmented platforms with which Box of Birds are developing are both innovative and forward thinking, by allowing for engagement of audiences and artists to create digitally interactive and physical works in real time. 

Stalker has always been at the cutting edge of what is next: from their innovations in physical theatre, large scale sets (both real and virtual), from their inhabitation of the streets and site- specific venues to their work in a wide variety of cultural contexts, I have always been intrigued by their vision for the future of theatre. 

I would like to draw your attention to their new work currently in development Small Blue Thing. Small Blue Thing seeks to engage audiences in a new type of storytelling, one that is immersive, participatory, in 360 and digitally sophisticated.”

Mark Yeoman
Artistic Director
Noorderzon Festival, Netherlands

"Every few years, Box of Birds /Stalker are back on our festival with 'something new'. They have acquired greater longevity than any other group that I can think of, and many in our festival audience will remember them from years before. It's quite some achievement for a company based in Sydney, to carve out a long-term memory reflex in festival audiences such as ours, all over Europe as well as in Latin America, and increasingly now in Asia.

Box of Birds latest technical infusions of photogrammetry, international cyber-broadcast, post-VR 3-Dimensional volumetric capture, all combined within their own take on dance theatre, is groundbreaking. Their hi­ tech/broad access approach resonates loudly for me within a complex modern world which is often needing work exactly like this.”