Dead Puppet Society has arrived in the Cremorne Theatre at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) and the space is buzzing with movement, energy and anticipation ahead of the world premiere of Ishmael, which will open as part of Brisbane Festival 2021 after a 12-month postponement.

Ishmael Dead Puppet Society

Rehearsals for Dead Puppet Society’s new production Ishmael. Photo © Dean Hanson

Presented by Dead Puppet Society, QPAC and Brisbane Festival in association with Screen Queensland, Ishmael is a contemporary reimagining of Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby Dick, set one thousand years in the future when humanity has been forced to look off-planet for the resources to survive. Ishmael (Ellen Bailey), a young climate refugee from Earth, and Queequeg (Patrick Jhanur), an artificially intelligent droid who has escaped from a laboratory, board the MV Pequod captained by the obsessive Captain Ahab (Barb Lowing). On a dangerous journey to the outer solar system, the three find hope, connection, and redemption in the vastness of space, with all of the possibilities and terrors it holds.

Dead Puppet Society Creative Director David Morton has written, directed and co-designed this contemporary space opera, starring a trio...