Photo credit: Bjorn Bolinder
Post by @federicabalbi
Seen at Edinburgh Festival Fringe on the 9th of August 2026
5 stars – poetic visual storytelling
White paper birds are flown on an empty stage, they change speed, they separate then converge. This simple but evocative image, the precision of the movements that perform it, the care for the smallest detail: everything suggests from the very start that this is going to be a great show. And yes, Peregrinations reaches beyond expectations. Through mime and puppetry, a poetic, ironic, and tragic story develops in a succession of mesmerizing images. Not for a moment did I have to stop and think. Each scene spoke directly to my guts, to my feelings, to my imagination.
White paper, white masks, and grey neutral costumes convey a vaguely painful sensation, that of a memory long gone or a loved one that you miss. A father bides goodbye to his family and his baby: he’s the first one who must leave. The world where he lands is not a kind one, but the story is told with poetry, humour and playfulness… almost all the time.
Peregrinations, one of the four Fringe show directed by Blake Habermann and produced by Dutch Kill Theatre Company, is the result of a devising process by Long Story Short Devising Ensemble (cast: Megan Campisi, Ismael Castillo, Julia Cavagna, Duane Cooper, Jay Dunn, Blake Habermann, Angela Parra; music by Joan Hofmeyr). All actors have a story of migration and have contributed with their narratives and their emotions to the making of the play. Its truthfulness is tangible throughout, in the choice of images, in the depiction of departure and separation. The show nails perfectly the complex balance between managing to communicate, avoiding being literal, and knowing the right time to let go of an image perfectly.
I didn’t want it to end.
6th-30th August (except 17, 25); 11.25am
Running time: 60 minutes
Venue: Assembly Roxy, Central
Tickets and Info: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/peregrinations
Company Website: https://dutchkillstheater.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dutchkillstheater
Butterwort 
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