Presented by Dead Puppet Society, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) and Brisbane Festival in association with Screen Queensland, Ishmael is a space opera about healing, hope and humanity that aims to bring the backstage onstage and transport the audience to the outer reaches of the solar system. Postponed for 12 months due to COVID-19, this contemporary reimagining of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick has made its world premiere at QPAC as part of Brisbane Festival 2021.

Ellen Bailey and Patrick Jhanur in Ishmael. Photo © Dean Hanson

Written, directed and co-designed by David Morton, Ishmael is set in 3022, when humanity has been forced to look off-planet for the resources to survive. The piece condenses Moby Dick’s hundreds of pages into a sharp 85 minutes, touching on the novel’s key plot points and maintaining the core themes in exploring humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Ishmael also makes regular reference to Moby Dick through place and character names, snatches of dialogue and costuming. While the arcs of the three central characters are similar, they do not mirror their literary counterparts exactly.

Ishmael (Ellen Bailey), a young climate refugee...