Since 1972 Patch Theatre has been creating visually captivating performances for 4 to 8-year-olds and their families right here in South Australia. Over the last fifty-four years they have produced 120 unique works, won countless awards, and provided inspirational, design-rich theatre experiences to over 50,000 children across the globe every year.
This August, Patch Theatre is bringing back to Adelaide audiences their much loved and multi-award-winning production Me & My Shadow. First created in 2010, this production comes from the minds of Patch Theatre creatives Geoff Cobham, Dave Brown, Zoë Barry, Rob Hervey, Astrid Pill and Nathan O’Keefe.
Patch Theatre’s Artistic Director Geoff Cobham spoke to Glam Adelaide about Me & My Shadow, its development, and how important organisations like Patch are for the arts and young people.
“We’re often children’s first art experience, so that’s a responsibility we take very seriously. We know that if we get their first experience right, they’ll be art lovers for the future. Studies have shown that around 70 percent of our development happens in the first seven years of life so the early years are important for them to understand and work out being becoming and belonging. We talk about those three words quite a lot and they’re reflected in our shows. In Me & My Shadow It’s all about friendship and what it feels like to make a friend, to lose a friend, to be alone, to be with someone else, all those things. They’re massive things for any age group, especially young people. Young children are all discovering their place in the world and how they fit in and art is something that accelerates that. Children are so sophisticated and have such enormous appetites to learn.”
Patch Theatre prides itself on ensuring its productions open conversations and spark imagination amongst their audiences.
“We use the dance theatre technique of devising shows that have an emotional narrative rather than a linear narrative. Children create the most incredible stories about our shows. If you take a kid to an art gallery and show them abstract art they don’t say, ‘Oh, that’s just a scribble’. Rather, they say, ‘That’s the world from above and there’s a rocket’. They have an amazing ability to create ideas and stories out of just about anything. Children are the most sophisticated audiences we as artists or performers could ever work with.”
For six performances this August Patch Theatre is bringing back their most enduring work, Me & My Shadow, which has toured nationally and internationally, captivating tens of thousands of children over the past decade and a half.
“Originally, we had two performers and we wanted to make a show where we could introduce light as another character, so that was sort of the premise. To start with, in its early development, it went into this open-ended play session with each of the performers separately. First they each did a week on their own; we made these play spaces and they improvised and then we would choose bits of the improvisation. We would give them tasks and things to do and it was so great to use them separately and get their different responses to the design before we put them together to develop it further. We’ve been watching back videos of the last time we performed the show and it hasn’t changed that much actually. There have been a few little changes here and there, but it is still the same show as when it was first performed years ago. We just did our first show half an hour ago to an audience and they were completely spellbound. It was so fantastic to see people still being captured by this piece of theatre.”
A visual poem brought to life through light, shadow and colour, Me & My Shadow invites children into a world where shadows shift, stretch and surprise. Through playful physical performance, clever design and lively music, the work explores the small but significant challenges of friendship including the misunderstandings, negotiation and shared moments of joy that shape how we connect with others.
For this production, the original cast members, Astrid Pill and Nathan O’Keefe, are both reprising their roles.
“We have the original cast from the first time we performed it, which is very exciting. One of them hasn’t done it since the premiere 16 years years ago and the other member performed it seven years ago. It’s really great to have them back to re-stage the show. It’s like a family reunion.”
Since its premiere, the production has toured extensively across metropolitan and regional Australia, performed at the Sydney Opera House and travelled to the United States and China, positioning Patch Theatre as a leading Australian voice in theatre for young audiences.
“I love hearing the conversation that our young audiences have during the show. We have a no-shush policy, we’re very happy for the kids to talk. The performers only have about two or three lines as it’s all non-verbal. So I love listening to what the children say in response and how they unpack the show during the show. It’s so beautiful. They notice things and engage with the show on so many different levels. It’s different every show. This show allows them to have lots of space to interpret and enjoy the magic – it’s full of analogue magic, there’s nothing digital in the show. It’s very reassuring to see that some of the more engaging and successful bits of the show are the magic tricks using old-school tricks that have been used for many, many years.”
This return season forms part of Patch Theatre’s ongoing commitment to creating high quality, accessible live performance experiences for children and their families.
Tickets on sale now.
Me & My Shadow
Family Season:
Space Theatre, Adelaide
Sat 15, 22 and 29 Aug 2026
School performances:
Space Theatre, Adelaide
Tue 11 – Thu 27 Aug 2026
https://www.patchtheatre.org.au/me-and-my-shadow
Photo credit: Matt Byrne
