KOAL

HOTA presents Jacinta Yelland

Thu 11 - Fri 12 Jun 2026

KOAL

Fresh off a hit run at Theatre Works in Melbourne and PhysFestNYC in New York City, KOAL is a one-woman climate-catastrophe-clown-show for the end of the world. As wildfires tear through Australia, a baby koala, a coal miner and an Indigenous girl desperately strive to hold onto their homes before all burns and turns to ash.

KOAL is an original interactive solo-show, performed by Jacinta Yelland (RealTV, Elbow Room, Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre, Pig Iron Theatre Company, David Gordon) and directed by Trey Lyford (rainpan 43, The Civilians), that immerses the audience in the middle of the 2019 Australian bushfires. The show follows two eyewitnesses to this climate catastrophe; Koal, a baby koala recovering at a wildlife sanctuary after being saved from a nearby wildfire, and Stevo, a career coal miner trapped in a collapsed mine hundreds of metres underground. Woven throughout is the story of Minah, an Indigenous girl who was removed from her home and interned by her government during WWII. Using documentary theatre, clown, and audience interaction, KOAL takes the audience from laughter to tears as it explores what is lost when your home is erased.

Dates

Thu 11 - Fri 12 Jun 2026

Where

Theatre 2

Warnings

Themes of Climate Catastrophe
Smoke/Haze
Low level course language
Strobe effects (lightening)

Duration

1 hr 10 mins (no interval)

Tickets

Adult $42
Student $33
Seniors/Pensioners $33
HOTA Members $33
Student Group (6+) $27

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Times

Thu 11 June - 10:30am & 7:00pm

Fri 12 June - 1:00pm & 7:00pm

Credits

DIRECTOR: Trey Lyford
CO-CREATORS: Jacinta Yelland & Trey Lyford
ORIGINAL MUSIC COMPOSER: Ethan Mentzer
SOUND DESIGNER: Ethan Mentzer
ADDITIONAL SOUND DESIGN: Trey Lyford
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Trey Lyford
SET DESIGNER: Payton Smith
ADDITIONAL SET DESIGN: Jacinta Yelland
MASKS: Barbaric Yawp Workshop
PERCUSSION: Tobias Smith
STAGE MANAGER: Emmie Parker
COSTUME CONSULTANT: Grace Lillian Lee
CAST: Jacinta Yelland

#trailer

#Media Quotes

“Physical and evocative, engaging and entertaining…unlike anything I have seen. Yelland is a superb storyteller” — Alex First, thetheatre.au

“Yelland’s stagecraft throughout is intoxicating.” — Alex First, thetheatre.au

“Inspired by the “Black Summer” wildfires in Australia in 2019, Jacinta Yelland’s solo show evoked the horror happening right now in Los Angeles, even as the performer used an engaging storybook sensibility and physical playfulness to suggest the specific devastation that occurred years ago and many thousands of miles away.” — Jonathan Mandell, New York Theater

“KOAL is an experience that has stayed with me long after the final bow. Watching Jacinta Yelland on stage, I was struck by her ability to shift seamlessly between three completely distinct characters. Each of them felt so fully realized, and through them, the show explored the idea of home in a world that’s rapidly changing.” — Jim R. Moore, VaudeVisuals

“The contrasts in Jacinta’s performance were striking—one moment, the audience was laughing at her clever physical comedy, and the next, you could hear a pin drop as she brought something deeply emotional to the surface.” — Jim R. Moore, VaudeVisuals

#School Bookings

School Bookings

#Links to curriculum

Links to Curriculum: Years 7–10 Drama & History | ACARA 9.0

Students explore drama and history through contemporary and Indigenous perspectives, examining how theatre reflects Australian identity, resilience, and lived experiences. They investigate and explore social, cultural, and environmental issues. Drama skills focus on collaboration, performance, and critical analysis, including understanding global trends and how contemporary visceral physical theatre challenges ideas of Australian identity.

Links to Curriculum: Years 11–12 Drama | General Senior Syllabus 2025 v1.1

Unit 1: Share – Explore storytelling and human experiences across cultures, with emphasis on Australian voices, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. Develop foundational drama skills and aesthetic awareness.

Unit 2: Reflect – Examine drama’s power to truthfully represent lived experiences, including those shaped by climate, Indigenous histories, and social displacement. Engage with realist and contemporary dramatic styles to foster empathy and challenge audiences.

Unit 3: Challenge – Investigate how drama questions social, political, philosophical, and economic issues, using published and devised texts, including works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creators. Develop skills to create and respond to drama that educates, empowers, and challenges perspectives.

General Capabilities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, ethical understanding, intercultural understanding, personal and social capability, critical and creative thinking.

Cross-Curricular Links:

Science (environmental impacts, climate change), History (Indigenous histories, displacement policies), English (storytelling, narrative structures), Geography (human-environment interactions, land management).

#Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land across Australia and recognise their enduring connection to land, waters, skies, and community. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations peoples today. Sovereignty was never ceded. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.

We are deeply grateful to the many generous donors whose support made the development and productions of KOAL possible. While we are unable to name each of you individually, please know that your belief in this work and your contributions were invaluable. Your encouragement helped bring this story to life, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Special thanks to Suli Holum and The Work, gimmick, The Puffin Foundation Ltd., Fresh Ground Pepper NYC, City of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists, and Rasma and Stephen Yelland for supporting this work from its inception.

This play is dedicated to Marcella, Aiden, Maddox, Ruya, Sonny, Cleo and all that exists in the more-than-human world.