Inside the Walls

After completing a fellowship in children’s literature through the State Library of Victoria, theatre graduate and puppeteer Theresa O’Connor has brought her latest creative efforts to the Adelaide Fringe. A mixture of theatre, puppetry, visual effects and projections, Inside the Walls takes audiences on a spooky adventure certain to prick the imaginations of her predominantly young audience.

Everyone enjoys a pop-up book, especially when it is brought to life with familiar characterisations and projected onto a large screen above the performing space. With the help of surround sound design by J David Franzke, the story takes on a ghostly feel that evokes plenty of chatter amongst the audience. This magical tale involving shoes and the fantasy life of a young girl allows for stunning imagery.

O’Connor does well to engage and keep the story flowing, however at times was hard to hear as sound effects drowned out her voice. This should be easily fixed and took nothing away from the pure delight this story awakened in me.

The audience was able to ask questions after the show and this indicated how invested the young ones were in how O’Connor devised and carried out her scary adventure.

Kerry Cooper

Photographer: Theresa O'Connor

Click here to read more Adelaide Fringe reviews.