Henry is a reclus­ive writer with a dead­line (and a sad secret). He’s being houn­ded by his boss, his new neigh­bour is dis­tract­ing, and to top it all off, his char­ac­ter, Lumina,  is fight­ing for her life.  Will his ima­gin­a­tion help him come to terms with his prob­lems in the real world?

Red Leap Theatre’s new pro­duc­tion works very well in the intim­ate space of Down­stage. The paper set and props are ingeni­ous. Using phys­ic­al theatre and object manip­u­la­tion (some­times pup­pets, but not always pup­petty-pup­pets), the story unfolds over an hour.  If you’re in the middle seats then what hap­pens on stage will really look magic­al. (If you’re on the side you’ll see how it’s achieved.) The illu­sions and ensemble work are what make this show spe­cial. Pre­cise phys­ic­al work from the cast, espe­cially Veron­ica Brady, Alis­on Bruce, and Justin Haiu, mean that much of the story can be told without words. Emmett Skilton provides a groun­ded centre for the oth­er char­ac­ters to work around. Julia Croft is charm­ing as Louise, the enthu­si­ast­ic new neigh­bour.

A lovely sweet story for the whole fam­ily. (There are a couple of scary scenes that might freak the young­er chil­dren out.)

  • Paper Sky by Red Leap Theatre, on at Down­stage to 17 Novem­ber 2012.