Starry-eyed Stellarphant heads to the stage in new Barking Gecko production

Barking Gecko Arts will stage a theatre production of James Foley’s iconic and award-winning book Stellarphant. Artistic Director Sam Longley will bring the book to life in a season currently scheduled for January 2026.

Announced at the launch of House, the picture book and theatre production by Dan Giovannoni and Charlotte Lane, CEO of Fremantle Press Alex Allan said the arts industry needed partnerships like these. ‘We love how these collaborations help us give children more pathways to develop a love for stories and engage with Western Australian culture – it’s a doubly powerful way to inspire the next generation.’

Stellarphant is about an elephant who wants to be an astronaut. But every time Stella applies to Space Command, they come up with new reasons why she can’t join. Stella has to find inventive ways to subvert interstellar discrimination against pachyderms while reaching for the stars.

Author and illustrator James Foley said, ‘Having experienced their incredible show House, I’m beyond excited to see how Barking Gecko brings Stella’s story to the stage.’

Published in 2022, Stellarphant won the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s (CBCA) Sun Project: Shadowers’ Choice Award and was in Better Reading’s Top 50 Kids’ Books of 2022 as well as being shortlisted for a further five awards.