Set on a futuristic version of earth that has suffered a catastrophic environmental collapse, the box office hit Ishmael by David Morton is a modern version of Herman Melville’s classic Moby Dick, reimagined for a new millennium as a contemporary space saga.
Hailed by critics as ‘a new kind of storytelling’ and ‘unlike anything else hitting the stage’ during its world premiere at Brisbane Festival in 2021, Ishmael is a visually compelling experience like no other. This boundary pushing production melds live film making with live action, miniature sets, models and cutting edge camera technology, puppetry and an original score to tell a captivating story about individual hope and collective redemption. Known for exposing the illusion of their work, Dead Puppet Society’s Ishmael takes it to the next level. As audiences watch the story unfold, they watch how it is made, live in front of their eyes.
Planet earth has been so badly polluted, the surface is smothered in a layer of thick, toxic clouds. With tight control over the tops of the tallest mountains where the air remains fresh, only the elite corporate class breathe clean air. The story follows the journey of Ishmael, a refugee who has been living in a corporation sanctioned camp below the clouds, on the darkened surface of earth. She is offered a chance of a new life above the clouds, but quickly discovers 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. Once on board, Ishmael befriends Queequeg, the only other crew member - an escapee artificial intelligent droid experiment. After a rocky start, Ishmael falls into the groove of life on MV Pequod, until the crew are confronted by a destroyed mining ship. With the trauma of the loss of her brother fresh in her mind, Captain Ahab abandons the crew to journey into uncharted space to either find her brother alive, or to avenge him.
