It’s always a delight to see New Zealand’s Trick of the Light productions. This year it has returned with The Bookbinder and its new show, Suitcase Show at Summerhall.
As we enter the auditorium, there is an open suitcase with a small figure revolving round on a turntable and music playing. There is an airport security desk displaying an x-ray picture of the contents of a suitcase on a computer screen.
Littering the stage are various battered suitcases. The traveller (Ralph McCubbin Howell) has been selected for additional checks on his luggage, but he explains these are not his luggage but "luggage of the lost". He’s not sure what’s in them and didn’t pack them himself.
Suspicions are raised and the bored, belligerent border control official (Hannah Smith) demands to see inside all of the luggage. She may regret that decision.
Each of the bags holds a story. First, a little paper town pops up covered in snow, and slowly they are lit up showing the inhabitants of one house in silhouette, but there is something sinister happening.
As each suitcase is opened, a new miniaturised world and adventure begins. One concerns a love affair from two people who met on an aircraft and spend time together in the business class lounge. It’s so cleverly presented using just two hands one in shadow and the other in front of a screen to tell their story.
By contrast, there is a story of an autocrat escaping on a train and a bear. Then a space adventure with journey through time.
Each story is meticulously told, and finally there is the small brown leather case with its frightening contents.
Extra help is sought from the border inspector’s colleagues, Anya Tate-Manning and Richard Falkner, who are shown on video in the rest room. But there is a stark, deadly warning to baggage examiners who ask too many questions.
But who is this mysterious traveller? Do go to find out—you’ll be totally surprised. Highly recommended.