This is one of the rare shows that are not presented by an American company. Coad Canada Puppets performed in the Student Centre Ballroom (the room is exactly as it sounds, with rostra set up on one side of the space, and black curtains surrounding the sides of the stage area). The set design is quite simple: a puppet booth. Not in the style of traditional Punch & Judy, but a curtain hiding the performer, and rising above it at the back was a sunset-painted cloth. Above and in front of the cloth was a lighting bar, which housed some birdies (small parcans - a lighting term).

The show itself is also simple, with the storyline based around this pink mystery box. An exploration of the emotions curiousity, sadness, frustration, fear, happiness, anger, loneliness and love, The Box features a cute dog sock puppet, a child (puppeteer, Luman Coad, specifically said he doesn’t put a gender on the puppet) glove puppet, plus lots of other glove and rod puppets. As the dog and child interact with the box in different ways - discovering a bone to chew on, or scary noises coming from it - we’re given a comical and light look at the eight emotions. There’s even a bit of tongue-in-cheek puppetry, when the child brings out its own puppet booth and puts on a little show for us. 

The puppets themselves are well made, and performed with great dexterity. There were moments of movement with the dog that made me think, "That’s exactly what my dog does!" It wasn’t so much agreement with the movement itself, but the x factor of characterisation, where you suddenly see something in an object come to life. The music is a selection of classical music, which suits the atmosphere and mood of the show very well. 

At the start of the show we were told that the company has received many awards around the world, including quite a few from UNIMA USA. I immediately thought, "Oh that probably means I won’t like it", seeing as how I seem to have that issue lately of not liking shows that everyone else seems to like. Funnily enough, even though I enjoyed the show - I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t breaking a sweat artistically - it was when Coad appeared from behind the booth that I was even remotely impressed. I suddenly realised that what looked simple onstage is actually quite complicated, seeing as how there were only two hands to manipulate everything. When you have lots of puppets onstage, sound and lighting cues to operate, and the usual chaos that goes with just plain remembering cues and lines, that’s a feat worth applauding. I also realised why this show received awards: it’s a great show for kids, easy to understand, easy for any culture to follow and therefore breaks language barriers, and does what it sets out to achieve. 

Ultimately, I’m giving this show a rather conservative rating. Whilst the puppets and performance was executed well, some of the jokes I saw coming, and that never rates well with me. I’m giving this: