An enchanting masterpiece of storytelling, paper art and shadow puppetry
Presented by: DreamBIG Children’s Festival and Adelaide Festival Centre
Reviewed: 17 May, 2025
The award-winning company Trick of The Light Theatre has brought their enchanting show, The Bookbinder, to Adelaide for the DreamBIG Children’s Festival. It was held in The Institute Gallery in the State Library, the perfect venue for a show that venerates stories and the books that contain them.
The Bookbinder is a masterpiece from start to finish. The story feels like an old world fable: magic, mystery, danger, and strength and cleverness in adversity. A cocky apprentice bookbinder cuts corners when repairing a mysterious old woman’s ancient book, but when he tried to burn the evidence of his laziness, he is sucked into the world of the story and must use all his wits to repair the book before the world crumbles to dust.
Ralph McCubbin Howell’s storytelling is completely spellbinding, from the voices and accents for different characters to his body language. Howell switches seamlessly between acting the story and using paper models and shadow puppetry. The latter in particular is simply magical in the majestic, high-ceilinged room of the Institute Gallery.
The set is as much a character in this work as the various roles played by Howell. Much of the story is told using a large book of popup pictures, beautifully rendered by director and production designer Hannah Smith. These pictures often include moving elements and use angles of lighting to create different effects.
The Bookbinder’s season at DreamBIG Children’s Festival has ended, but should this show ever return to Adelaide, or another show by Trick of The Light Theatre, it is definitely worth seeing. However, do heed the age recommendation for this show — while my 10 year old was completely enthralled in the show, there were some younger audience members at this performance who seemed to struggle to stay engaged, and some of the story elements probably went over their heads. This is the perfect show for upper primary and middle school, as well as for drama students or anyone with a keen interest in folk tales or puppetry.
Reviewed by Kristin Stefanoff
Photo credit: Phillip Merry
Venue: Institute Gallery at State Library of South Australia
Season: ended
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