Photo credit: Phillip Merry
A delightfully dark fairytale that will charm older children and adults alike
Review by Sharon Harrington
The Bookbinder tells the tale of an apprentice bookbinder who breaks his promise to a mysterious old customer and finds himself on a magical, death defying adventure to try set things right.
Produced by award winning New Zealand company, Trick of the Light, this show plays in intimate, bespoke venues. For the Dream Big Festival, the play was set in the Institute Gallery in the State Library of South Australia. Entering the venue felt like stepping back in time to a dimly lit, 1920’s bookstore, with honey coloured vintage lamps lighting up the bookbinder’s wooden desk and bookshelves as an antique gramophone played in the background.
This is a one-man show performed by Ralph McCubbin Howell who narrates and plays all the characters. He has a great stage presence as a storyteller, at times warm and engaging, at other times enigmatic and menacing. To help bring the story to life, Howell uses a meticulously designed, ancient pop up book, along with shadow play and puppetry.
The age range is 8 years plus, which is worth noting, as it may be a little frightening for younger audiences.
The Bookbinder is a marvellously imaginative and eerie experience. If this show makes its way back to Adelaide, make sure you take the opportunity to see it!
For more information and all enquiries please visit the Dream Big website.
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently. All photos are by Play & Go (unless specified). Image credit: Trick of the Light
SUBSCRIBE
Follow Play & Go Adelaide on Facebook and Instagram
Want to get all the latest events and activities straight to your inbox?
Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter below to keep up to date with our latest posts and find out all the best events & activities for Adelaide families. Newsletters are only sent once a week, and you may sometimes get a special offer exclusively for our subscribers only!
