Regions

Coma Land

Will O’Mahony

It’s tense and thrilling stuff; the type of theatre you can only get with creatives who have mastered the execution…At 70 minutes, Coma Land never wears out its welcome.”

The Theatre Diary – 4 ½ Stars

The child one expects is never the child one receives.

Boon is smart. Really smart. She’s skipped four years of school, possesses a photographic memory and was playing Mozart and Beethoven aged two. So why is it so hard for her to wake up?

Coma Land tells the story of an eleven-year-old genius who finds herself trapped in a world between life and death. There, she meets Penguin, a young girl determined to fly, and they quickly become friends. But when her protective father stands between them and their escape, Boon soon learns that the one thing you can never outsmart is the truth.

From the daring and imaginative mind of Will O’Mahony (Tonsils + Tweezers, The Mars ProjectGreat White), comes a magical story celebrating children, difference, and the depths of parental love. An epic tale about pianos, prodigies, penguins and pandas, Coma Land asks, if it takes ten thousand hours to master something difficult, then why can it take a lifetime to accept something simple.

Coma Land is a co-production between Performing Lines WA and Black Swan State Theatre Company.

Coma Land cast. L-R: Amy Mathews, Ben Sutton, Kirsty Marillier, Humphrey Bower and Morgan Owen

Funny and often beautifully poignant, O’Mahony’s direction and clever writing explores the changing relationships between parent and child, success and failure, mastering and perfection.”

Theatre People – 4 ½ Stars

Professional staging, deft lighting and sound effects add to the somewhat surreal state the playwright has dreamed up for his story… the most impressive aspect of the play is its originality, which busts the mould of more formulaic productions, and transports us off to a weird and wonderful world.”

Starfish Magazine

Coma Land with Amy Mathews and Ben Sutton

Credits

Writer/Director
Will O’Mahony

Dramaturg
James Berlyn

Costume Designer
Rozina Suliman

Set Designer
Patrick James Howe

Lighting Designer
Chris Donelly

Performers
Humphrey Bower
Kirsty Marillier
Amy Mathews
Morgan Owen
Ben Sutton

World Premiere
A co-production between Performing Lines WA and Black Swan State Theatre Company

Presenter Contact

Jeremy Smith Senior Producer

Presentation History

2017
State Theatre Centre of Western Australia
Perth, WA
State Theatre Centre of Western Australia
Perth, WA

Project Partners & Acknowledgements

Coma Land was co-produced by Performing Lines WA and Black Swan State Theatre Company, and supported by the Western Australian Government through the Department of Culture and the Arts,

In everything we do, we acknowledge that we live on Aboriginal land and constantly learn from the wisdom of First Peoples.

Where we are and the history that precedes us informs how we work and how we move forward.