Glow Show puppets to light up New Zealand with Badjelly the Witch

Sarah Burren is the creative director behind the Glow Show.

Beloved story-time classic Badjelly the Witch is this year’s Glow Show, with kids, parents and grandparents all set to enjoy this New Zealand theatre experience.

From Kerikeri to Invercargill, this famous, glow-in-the-dark puppet show is touring Aotearoa in the July and October school holidays. It is coming to Gisborne’s War Memorial Theatre on July 16.

Glow Show was created by conceptual artist and creative director Sarah Burren and uses glowing puppets to tell stories in a theatrical setting.

Badjelly the Witch is an adaptation of the much-loved, utterly loony Spike Milligan classic by Alannah O’Sullivan, with music by Geoff Davison and lyrics by John Cairney. Nearly 100,000 Kiwi kids, parents and educators have seen a Glow Show and now the frolicking, witchy-poo, super-fun Badjelly the Witch has been given the unique Glow Show treatment.

The brilliantly nonsensical tale is entirely reimagined. The Glow Show’s original mash-up of science, puppetry and music is a glorious experience for children and this year it will be a wonderfully nostalgic event for adults. The goofiness of Bare Bottom Land, the giggle-inducing catch-cries like “Stinky poo to all of you!”, and the larger-than-life characters of Badjelly are set to bring a little fright and lots of fun to more than 30 venues across Aotearoa from July 5.

There is also the opportunity to go backstage and discover the secrets behind the puppets, and meet their creator.

The big questions - how do the puppets glow? How big are they really? What are they made of? - will be answered during this special behind-the-scenes peek at the Glow Show.

“You can just hear how special it is when they’re in the audience, and they’re whispering, and clapping along; they get really immersed in the performance,” Leah Maihi, educator, said.