Written by David Morton

A dead earth. A climate refugee. A voyage to the outer solar system.

On the resource-depleted earth of a not-so-distant future, a young climate refugee named Ishmael is given the chance to build a new life, provided she can survive a voyage to the outer solar system aboard the MV Pequod under the command of the obsessive Captain Ahab.

After wowing audiences during its Brisbane Festival 2021 world premiere and hailed by critics as ‘a new kind of storytelling’ (Limelight), Ishmael returns to Brisbane with a unique, visually compelling theatre experience reimagining the timeless novel, Moby Dick.

Set on a futuristic version of earth which has suffered a catastrophic environmental collapse, the story follows Ishmael (Ellen Bailey), a climate refugee who has been living in a corporation sanctioned camp on the darkened surface of earth. She’s offered a chance of a new life above the clouds, but quickly discovers that this means a perilous voyage to the outer solar system aboard the MV Pequod – a mining ship under the control of the notorious Captain Ahab (Barb Lowing). Once aboard, Ishmael befriends Queequeg (Karl Richmond) – the only other crew member and an escaped experiment in artificially intelligent droids. Ishmael eventually falls into the groove of life on board until the crew are confronted by a ruined mining ship and with the trauma of the loss of her brother fresh in her mind, Ahab leads the crew into uncharted space on a quest to either find him alive or avenge him.

The creative vision of the internationally acclaimed Dead Puppet Society (Holding Achilles, The Wider Earth, Laser Beak Man), Ishmael melds captivating storytelling with live action, live filmmaking, miniature sets, puppetry, an incredible original score by indie pop musician Bec Sandridge, and boundary-pushing visual theatre.

Don’t miss this strictly limited season.

Click here to see the Ishmael Education Notes.