KOAL
​
JACINTA YELLAND & TREY LYFORD

​Part climate-catastrophe, part clown show--
KOAL is a one-woman show for the end of the world.  
As wildfires tear through Australia, a baby koala, a coal miner and an Indigenous girl desperately strive to hold onto their homes before all burns and turns to ash.

KOAL is an interactive solo-show, performed by Jacinta Yelland and directed by Trey Lyford, that immerses the audience in the middle of the 2019 Australian bushfires. The show follows two eyewitnesses to this climate catastrophe; Koal, a baby koala recovering at a wildlife sanctuary after being saved from a nearby wildfire, and Stevo, a career coal miner trapped in a collapsed mine hundreds of meters underground. Woven throughout is the story of Minah, an Indigenous girl who was removed from her home and interned by her government during WWII.

Using documentary theatre, clown, and audience interaction,
​ KOAL takes the audience from laughter to tears as it explores what is lost when your home is erased.

KOAL premiered at the 2023 Philadelphia Fringe Festival and was the winner of the 5 Star Award.
In January 2024, KOAL was presented at Ars Nova, NYC and in May had its Australian debut at  Theatre Works.

Theatre Works' Explosives Factory, Melbourne, Australia
​Photos courtesy of Ashley Smith of Wide Eyed Studios

KOAL has been developed with the assistance of The Puffin Foundation Ltd, The Work, gimmick, The Bower Estate, Partnered Health, Philadelphia Asian Performing Arts Playwrights and Fresh Ground Pepper NYC. 

Created and performed by Jacinta Yelland.
Created, directed and additional sound design by Trey Lyford.
Original music and sound design by Ethan Mentzer.
Set design by Payton Smith.
Masks by Barbaric Yawp Workshop.

Philadelphia Fringe Festival
 Photos courtesy of Ashley Smith of Wide Eyed Studios

Ars Nova, New York City
Images courtesy of HanJie Chow