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What is Co-Stars — and why did I build a show where children are the sound department?
- Nathan Schulz
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Let me start with a question. When was the last time your child didn't just watch a story — but was part of one?
Not sitting in front of a screen. Not listening quietly while someone else read. But actually inside the story — needed, active, essential to the whole thing working.
That question is why I built Co-Stars.
Want the full origin story of how Co-Stars came to be — from a childhood record player to a manga museum in Kyoto? Read Co-Stars: Where Sound Meets Story first, then come back here.
So what is Co-Stars, exactly?
Co-Stars is an interactive Storytime experience for children aged 3 to 12, where the audience doesn't just watch the story — they perform it. At key moments throughout the show, children provide the live sound effects. The rocket launching. The comet streaking past. The moment the crew looks out the window and sees the Moon for the very first time.
Without the children making those sounds — the story doesn't work. They are not the audience. They are the sound department.
The show is drawn from the ancient Japanese tradition of Kamishibai — street theatre told through illustrated images, where performers would travel town to town with a wooden stage and tell stories to whoever gathered around.
In my version, the wooden stage becomes a travelling suitcase. It opens. Illustrated story cards appear one by one. And the story unfolds.
And then at a certain point in the show — the lights dim. Something happens. Something I'd rather you discovered in the room.
Where did the idea come from?
Co-Stars grew from a decade of participatory storytelling — beginning with a Golden Age of Radio workshop program I delivered in schools and outside school hours care programs across Queensland, where children became the live sound effects crew for classic radio plays. I watched what happened when a child realized the story needed them.
Not in a token, clap-along kind of way. But genuinely needed them. The story would not work without their voice. The shift in a child in that moment — the way they sit up, lean forward, take the whole thing seriously — is something I have never forgotten.
Everything changed when I visited a manga museum in Kyoto and encountered Kamishibai for the first time and learned about performers cycling from town to town, opening a wooden stage to reveal illustrated boards, telling stories to whoever gathered.
I already performed with suitcases. Standing in that museum, I saw exactly how they could become something more — a portable stage, a world that unfolds wherever you put them down.
The suitcase became the stage. The illustrated images became the world. And the children — as always — became the reason it all worked.
This season: Jules Verne, NASA, and Artemis
Co-Stars: Storytime LIVE! opens this May with Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon and Back — reimagined for children aged 3 to 12 with a steampunk twist.
In Jules Verne's story, they didn't use a rocket. They used a giant cannon to shoot a space capsule to the Moon. KABOOM. SWOOSHH. And the children in the room are the ones who make those sounds happen.
What I love about this story — beyond the sheer wildness of a Victorian cannon launch — is how it connects to right now. Jules Verne imagined travelling to the Moon in 1865. NASA did it for real in 1969. And NASA's Artemis program is photographing the lunar surface right now — the same cratered world Verne described in his 1870 sequel, Around the Moon, finally revealed.
Three ways to join the Co-Stars crew
Co-Stars isn't just a live show. It's a growing world of participatory storytelling — and there are three ways your child can be part of it:
See it live. Co-Stars: Storytime LIVE! performs at The Raven Hotel, West End Brisbane, Sundays 3rd to 24th May 2026 as part of Anywhere Festival. Every child ticket includes a free download of the Join In Edition eBook. Buy 3 children's tickets and bring a companion free.
Hear it free. The complete story of From the Earth to the Moon and Back is on YouTube right now — free, no subscription required. Just hit play and let the adventure begin.
Perform it at home. The Join In Edition eBook puts the sound effects cues right in your child's hands — so they know exactly when it's their moment to perform alongside the YouTube audio. Grab it before the show and your child arrives ready.
What's coming next
Co-Stars is just getting started. Later this year, two more stories are on their way — Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. And there may be a surprise or two along the way.
Each story brings a new world, a new set of sounds, and a new reason for your child's voice to matter.
The story is ready. It just needs your child's voice.
The Raven Hotel, West End Brisbane
Sundays 3rd–24th May 2026 | Anywhere Festival 2026
Ages 3–12 | Buy 3 children's tickets, get 1 companion free
Free story on YouTube | Join In Edition eBook available now
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