Trash Magic is an all inclusive puppet show set in the Northern Territory about a family's messy camping trip to the bush. The show has a heavy visual emphasis to cater toward people with hearing impairments.

Presented by Artback NT and CemeNTworx/Darwin Community Arts, the production emphasises inclusivity, featuring an ensemble of emerging multi-skilled performers and puppeteers of all abilities.

Trash Magic producer, writer and director Tania Lieman has worked in the disability sector for 35 years, and also runs a theatre group for people with disabilities called CemeNTstars.

Ms Lieman said there are very few post-school opportunities in the performing arts for people with disabilities.

"Very few people with disabilities are going into performing arts study or arts study," she said.

"We felt it was important to find pathways for people with disabilities for real opportunities and creative development."

Ms Lieman helped start a mentorship program in 2020 which has allowed artists to move into a career in performing arts.

Ms Lieman said some of Trash Magic's small cast were people who had started with the mentorship program and had since carried on into the show's production.

"Whatever the level of the artist or whatever they bring to the table, a major goal has been to develop skills that are going to be enhanced and be taken through to other projects," Ms Lieman said

"The artists are just responding. The level of their development has been so enormous," she said.

"An important takeaway is that this production is being billed and has been developed as a professional piece of theatre, as opposed to a disability arts project."

Production of the play was collaborative and developed through a supportive process that drew on ideas from all cast members.

Cast member Kyle Adams came through the CemeNTstars Theatre Group and said he really enjoyed the experience of working in the production.

"I like coming with lots of ideas, like what's better for the show, what's good, what suits the play, because I like ideas and I like to do the sounds of computers a lot, what suits the sounds, what makes it better for the play," he said.

The production also received the backing of the Territory Government, with a $25,000 Arts Industry Development grant issued to support increased access to the arts for people with disabilities.

Northern Territory Minister for Disabilities Ngaree Ah Kit said arts at all levels should be accessible to everyone.

"Arts, especially locally developed arts like Trash Magic, tell stories about ourselves. They reflect us as societies, so it's a no brainer that they should also reflect the whole of us as a community," she said.

"What I love especially about this production, is that the focus is on the art - not the disability."

Trash Magic will perform at Katherine's Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre on July 6 and 7.