MOTHER & BABY


melbourne fringe festival october 2025, carlton gardens
Olivia Floate (me)
in collaboration with
Liam Berg: concept, choreography, props, puppeteer (mother)
Affrica Fankhauser: minding, props
and Lauren Berkeley: music

she tries her best, but it's never enough.

"...a naked, giant baby and his mother clad in activewear. umbilical cord in hand, she juggles her exercise routine with her cumbersome child. sausage woman's large-scale, handmade puppet spectacle pulls apart the burdens of motherhood and its impossible standards. their seemingly sweet and familiar faces will draw you in to an ending you won't expect..."

MOTHER AND BABY is a 30 minute giant puppet show set to original music. 'mother' is a foam suit and 'baby' is a fibreglass shell with an inflated head and limbs, and fabric skin; he is amphibious and can be rolled along the ground if not in water.
most images by chris ferric; some by jet min and sandra floate
supported by the melbourne and maribyrnong city councils