Gudrun Von Selzam

There she was, after her water broke, ice cubes and water from the bucket she had pushed on stage centimeter by centimeter, her pregnancy, or early labour, having intense contractions, and she, with the help of an audience member, birthed a black and white striped back pack. Then the placenta.

Weaving the web of a very realistic, emotionally rollercoasting, raw postpartum period, that included endless breastmilk pumping, rocking the bucket full of ice cubes and water to sleep, almost drowning in it in another scene, and slipping and sliding without getting ground under her feet in yet another scene.... and shortly after dancing wildly and happily. This show brought an honesty across that brought me to tears. A rock, an island, memories of such vulnerability, it moved me.

The show is intense, deep, and emotional. It has moments where you want to jump off your seat to just give Gin, the main character, a big hug, feeling the deep pain and confusion the puppet is going through. These puppets come alive immediately when you meet them, and their struggles are as real as the history of the hospital and the rural Alberta town where this story is set. I loved the set design, the costumes, the masks and puppets, especially the way how the characters dove from one scene into the next and switching between being humans and humans in puppet form. The standing ovation this deeply moving show got tonight was more than deserved!