Beneath Our Feet, commissioned by Monash University Performing Arts Centres (MPAC), is a new immersive theatre experience for children that invites audiences into the microscopic world of soil ecosystems. Beneath Our Feet will premier as part of Family Fiesta MPAC’s annual takeover of live, participatory art and performance for children, with more than half of events free and the rest low-cost, running from 1–4 July.
Developed by Where the Snails Go Theatre Co in collaboration with Monash soil scientists Dr Adam Frew and Dr Vanessa Wong, the production translates cutting-edge soil science into a sensory, participatory performance. The collaboration fundamentally reshaped the work. What began as a show about underground insects evolved into an exploration of the invisible microbial communities that drive life beneath our feet. Conversations with the scientists inspired everything from the show’s central narrative and environmental themes to its visual design, including sets and costumes influenced by microscope imagery of seeds and bacteria.
The artists even conducted a Winogradsky Column experiment alongside the researchers, growing microbial ecosystems in jars of mud and water collected from Melbourne waterways. The vivid colours produced by different bacteria directly informed the production’s costume palette, while the experiment itself helped shape the show’s creative interpretation of life underground.
At a time when environmental storytelling is increasingly important, Beneath Our Feet offers a compelling example of how scientific research and the arts can work together to engage young audiences with complex ecological ideas.
Where the Snails Go Theatre Co a new company that centres wonder, play, connection, interactivity, with an attention to slow time and the natural world, co-created by Lauren Swain and Sophia derkenne.
Lauren Swain is also an artist with Polyglot Theatre Co, Bloomshed Theatre Co and associate artist with Pummel Squad. Lauren is fresh off a breakout season in Bloomshed’s remount of Pride and Prejudice at the Malthouse theatre. Sophia’s work and passion centres around immersive, interactive work that is collaborative, accessible, and is all about responses of the body.
