Elliot’s Big Nose And The Snot That It Grows

The booger flings out in rapid locomotion, but what happens next is in slow motion. From her nose, which now is sweaty, a string of snot stretches, long like spaghetti. It spans two metres, almost three, creating a zipline from her nose to the tree.

When Elliot – a shy and bookish eight year old – discovers that she can grow metre-long snot from her nose and wield it like a fifth appendage, she learns to use her newfound powers to solve playground problems and make new friends. This story, told by a chorus of characters, a swelling soundtrack and entirely in rhyme, promises a magical journey of image-based theatre and puppetry.

Elliot’s Big Nose and the Snot That It Grows is an award-winning play for children who love all things gross. Written under mentorship from Barking Gecko and the Australian Theatre for Young People’s Fresh Ink program, this play will have both children and adults squirming in their seats. Elliot’s Big Nose and the Snot That It Grows is a mash between a superhero origin story and a children’s picture book, with a message to love your strengths despite your insecurities.

Form and Style

The form of this work is puppetry with physical character comedy and musical elements, with performers puppeteering characters, set pieces and inanimate objects. The story is told completely in rhyme following Elliot the protagonist, accompanied by three narrating chorus members who transform into multiple characters. The world they create is fantastical and rhythmic, often defying the laws of physics to create action packed sequences and musical moments. The show’s puppets are absurd in shape and size, and also play into a child’s love for everything gross.

The style of the work is colourful with the items used being found objects from around the house or made from arts and crafts materials accessible to children. This style can be seen in the work’s set pieces, puppets, puppet costumes and props. For example, the base of the set is made up of trestle tables, black sheets and painted milk crates. The puppets were made from large sponges, newspaper and pool noodles, with the puppet costumes being repurposed children’s clothes. The props are items such as goggles, a lunch box and tennis ball or were made from scratch using streamers, paper, cardboard, cotton wool buds, old children’s clothes and aluminium foil just to name a few. This style for the show was adopted to inspire the children watching and spark their imagination to create a world and tell a story in their very own living room.

Community Engagement

Collectively, the performers have experience in puppetry, puppet-making and children’s education. Credits include performances with Spare Parts Puppet Theatre as well as work with Sensorium Theatre, the Constable Care Foundation and Christ Church Grammar School. With these skills, we believe that there is potential to engage with primary schools around Western Australia. The engagement with these schools could include school performances, as well as workshops in puppetry and puppet making.

School shows:

As the show does not rely heavily on technical elements, the work can be performed at schools that don’t have a conventional theatre space. The show only requires space for two tables and two small shelves.

Puppet-making workshops:

As the play’s style draws from found objects and an arts & crafts aesthetic, we can host workshops teaching children how to make their own puppets. The difficulty would be scaled according to the age of the participants and we’d use materials like paper, pipe cleaners, sponges and tape.

Puppetry workshops:

In these workshops, we’d focus on how to manoeuvre puppets to come to life, whether they’re established puppets, household objects, or puppets the participants made in the puppet-making workshops. We’d focus on eyeline, gravity, breathing and playfulness.

Reviews

“This charming, yet gross, children’s play is perfect for assisting in navigating the schoolyard, eliciting empathy, and fosters a passion for learning.” – Review by Laura Money, Fourth Wall Media

“Elliot’s Big Nose and the Snot that it Grows is both gross and gorgeous, a little treasure of a show for kids . . . A wonderful blend of puppetry and live action, it keeps its young audience engaged and giggling throughout.” – Review by Kimberly Shaw, Stage Whispers

“Elliot’s Big Nose and the Snot That it Grows is as ridiculous as the name would suggest, and I can guarantee you will have fun.” – Review by Kobi Morrison, Seesaw Magazine.

“Elliot’s Big Nose and the Snot that it Grows contains a heavy viral load of snot scarves, booger lassos, and educational fun facts. It is funny, gross, and original, with strong performances, a satisfying script, and impressive poetic puppetry.” – Review by Nancy Nott, Fringefeed.

“Super fun, silly and imaginative – for kids and adults – this show was all the best things children’s theatre can be. Well done!” – Audience Member Testimonial via Fringeworld.

“The audience- both young and old were captivated by the fun and creativity of this gorgeously gross and amazing production. Really enjoyed it and would like to see it again.” – Audience Member Testimonial via Fringeworld.

Available Marketing Collaterals

Poster artwork, showreel, production images, and media release are available.

Credits

Elise Wilson – Playwright and Performer

Elise is a Boorloo based writer, performer and graduate of WAAPA’s Bachelor of Performing Arts (Performance Making) course. Elise’s writing credits include the physical-theatre-thriller Floor Thirteen (The Blue Room Theatre, 2019), the Loungeroom Project Senior Jury Prize-winning sketch The Ransom (Writer/Performer, WA Youth Theatre Company, 2020), the Martin Sims Award-nominated and Fringe Weekly Award-winning children’s show Elliot’s Big Nose and the Snot That It Grows (Writer/Performer, State of Play, 2022) and her Curtin University Stage One commissioned comedy-thriller Packing Heat (Co-Writer, The Blue Room theatre, 2022).

Christopher Moro – Director

Christopher is a graduate of WAAPA’s Bachelor of Performing Arts course, with experience in acting, devising and directing. In 2021, he directed What’s Poppin, a short play that he co-wrote for The Blue Room Theatre’s 900 Seconds program. During the same period, he devised and performed A Nought For A Cross, an all-ages play that premiered at the Subiaco Arts Centre as part of Perth’s FRINGE WORLD Festival.

Catherine O’Donoghue – Producer

Catherine is a Producer and Stage Manager based in Perth. She graduated in 2019 with her Bachelor of Performing Arts (Production & Design) from WAAPA. Theatre credits include stage managing for See You Next Tuesday (Static Drive Co.), and ARCO (WAYTCO). Producing credits include Ellliot’s Big Nose And The Snot That It Grows.