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Gifted this incredible embroidered shirt by @fredvantsand last night. He saw the show at @assitej_za in Cape Town nine years ago, started it then, then as he told us he lost it four times, found it five times, and finished it this week in Melbourne when he heard we were on @artscentremelbourne

We open The Bookbinder at @artscentremelbourne tonight. First time back performing here since @melbfringe 2014, and our first stop of six months of touring a bunch of shows (😵‍💫🤟🎉) - more announcements to come. Watch this space. Just uncovered these unreleased pics from ASK China. The season here’s on track to sell out, but if you move quick you might get the last ones for next week. @hotagc @byretheatre @aberdeenperformingarts

We’re setting off for Scotland! Thrilled to return to some familiar haunts, and to take in a new one. We’re in St Andrews first with The Bookbinder at @byretheatre for one night only on June 11. Then we’re back up in Orkney for @stmagnusfestival with Suitcase Show 20-21 June, and back at @aberdeenperformingarts for overlapping seasons of The Bookbinder and Suitcase Show 31 July - 1 August. More to come. Details on our website through the link in the bio.

One week tomorrow til we open The Bookbinder @artscentremelbourne. The shows have sold out again so we’ve added another couple of performances here and at @hotagc. Move fast. We’ve been crafting a new pop up book for the upcoming seasons (version 4.0) as our last one was wearing out. Han’s illustrated this one from scratch and we’ve worked in yet more obsessive detail easter eggs. Just got the prints back from @meshprintakl (Wellington), now the assembly begins. Can’t wait to share.

Packing The Bookbinder into @themeteortheatre ahead of opening tonight AND the debut of the new stamps from @wellingtonrubberstamp we’re using on our make your own pop-up merch. Thanks stamps. Thamps.

On the road to @themeteortheatre for our season of The Bookbinder and green theatre workshops this week. Here’s how you can get to the theatre by bus or on your bike. Travel safe and see you there.

This morning we open our development season of I Don’t Know Much About Art But I Know What I Lick. Here is where you can find us @urbandreambrokerage, and the nearest stops and stands for buses and bikes (near prefab and the design school). If you’re coming by car, heads up there’s no parking directly on Taranaki Street, but there is paid parking on the same block on Jessie Street and Vivian Street. Map by the excellent @soph.helm. @wgtncc @nzfringe

I Don’t Know Much About Art But I Know What I Lick opens (and closes) its development season at @nzfringe next weekend, before we take it up the road to @performingartsnetworknz. 6 shows in 2 days, space is limited and it’s filling up fast. Reserve a spot through the Fringe website. From Trick of the Light Theatre comes a show about fine art for messy people. The gallery is a space with particular rules of engagement. Young children do not know these rules and embrace art in the way that makes the most sense to them: physically. In I Don’t Know Much About Art But I Know What I Lick, Trick of the Light Theatre (The Bookbinder, The Griegol) join forces with internationally acclaimed performance designer Meg Rollandi on a new show for children (5 and under) and their accompanying adults. Guided by two performer attendants, audiences are invited to explore a gallery set up for kids, featuring satirical and interactive reworkings of iconic art pieces - The Mona Lisa with eyes that actually follow you, the Birth of Venus in a paddling pool clam shell... 28 Feb - 1 Mar 10am, 12pm, 2pm @urbandreambrokerage 113 Taranaki

We are one month out from taking The Bookbinder to @themeteortheatre 18-21 March. Find out more and get your tickets through our website. Link in the bio.

We won a thing! Stoked to receive outstanding touring production at the Dunedin Theatre Awards last night for Suitcase Show. Many thanks to the judges, audiences who came to the show, everyone who made it with us, and to @artsfestdunedin, Allan Hall, and @performingartsnetworknz for bringing us down.

We’re outies for 2025. Thanks to everyone who’s worked with us, supported us, and come to our shows this year. Thought we’d share this beautiful graphic we got from @slthomasson last week, which tracks everywhere we’ve ever performed our work in Aotearoa — it’s research towards a book on touring that’s coming out next year. Look forward to adding to this, and heading further afield in 2026. If you have the means, and want us to keep doing what we're doing, we’d love you to consider become a patron through regular support or a one-off donation. Check out our patron page through the link in the bio. Catch you on the flip side. R+H

Thrilled to announce that we're taking The Bookbinder to @artscentremelbourne and @hotagc next April-May. Can't wait to perform in Naarm / Melbourne for our first time since 2014 (what the heck), and make our first trip to Yugambeh Region / Gold Coast. Tickets through link in the bio. Hope to see you there. "They say you can get lost in a good book. But it’s worse to get lost in a bad one…" An old man sits down to read the tale of a bookbinding apprentice. As his words fill the room, the story slips off the page and into the workshop around him. The Bookbinder is a dark fairy-tale brought to life through inventive puppetry, paper art, shadow play and atmospheric storytelling, echoing the imaginative worlds of Coraline and The Labyrinth. First performed in the back room of a second-hand bookshop, this award-winning production has since travelled the world – from the attic of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s oldest bookbindery to New York’s Lincoln Center – touring Australia, South Africa, the UK, Canada, China and the USA. It has received numerous honours, including Best Theatre and Best in Fringe at @nzfringe 2014, the International Excellence Award at @sydneyfringe 2014 and the Children’s Theatre Award at @fringeworldperth in 2015. A one-man performance from Trick of the Light Theatre, made for readers, dreamers and bookworms alike.

Happy @nzfringe launch! Can’t wait to be there with a development season of our impractically titled new work, I Don’t Know Much About Art But I Know What I Lick. This is a show about fine art for messy people. The gallery is a space with particular rules of engagement. Young children do not know these rules and embrace art in the way that makes the most sense to them: physically. In I Don’t Know Much About Art But I Know What I Lick, Trick of the Light Theatre (The Bookbinder, The Griegol) join forces with internationally acclaimed performance designer Meg Rollandi on a new show for children (5 and under) and their accompanying adults. Guided by two performer attendants, audiences are invited to explore a gallery set up for kids, featuring satirical and interactive reworkings of iconic art pieces - The Mona Lisa with eyes that actually follow you, the Birth of Venus in a paddling pool clam shell... 28 Feb - 1 Mar 10am, 12pm, 2pm @urbandreambrokerage 113 Taranaki

Development in a dark room about development in a dark room. Many thanks to @d_dog_nodder for coming to play / film, and to @splendid.nz, @jamesgilberd_photospacegallery and @aucklandlive for their support. Pleasure as always to work at @teauaha and bittersweet to be there one last time. Such a waste to lose this space. Arohanui to all the team — hope to cross paths somewhere soon.

Round up of reviews for The Griegol at @hannahplayhouse. Such a delight to bring this back here and share it with audiences here and @taurangafestival. Hope to be back before too long.

Home again home again after remounting and touring The Griegol with these beauties. Many thanks to @performingartsnetworknz, @hannahplayhouse, @taurangafestival and @baycourt.tauranga for making it possible. Hope to bring this back again before too long. Watch this space.

Performing #TheGriegol @taurangafestival today.

Been watching the bike lane take shape at the crossing revamp on the corner of Courtenay and Kent Terrace and it’s open just in time for the show! @hannahplayhouse is super connected by bus and bike lane, so now that this wild weather’s behind us, you have the option to leave the car at home. (@wgtncc @andrewlittlenz We are a small business who operate in the cbd and flippin love a bike lane. Roll on the Golden Mile.)

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