Brie Keatley
As the in-house children’s reviewer for Art Murmurs, I am honoured to dust off my title for The Home Inside. Directed by Timothy Fraser, written/starring Emma Rattenbury and lead/produced by Kerryn Palmer, The Home Inside is a reflective piece of theatre about the importance of finding emotional resilience (mostly through focused breathing.) as a child.
Our show follows Winnie, who really really doesn’t want to go to school. This defiance erupts into a tantrum that brings her into a world of nature within her bedroom where she learns techniques to get through big emotions. Immediately, I feel you Winnie. As someone who used to have absolute screaming matches with my mum about going to school, I really could’ve used this show as a kid. I’m also really lucky as a reviewer to have a room full of school children who, despite a technical show stop, are still absolutely engaged with the show as they have questions aplenty for the team at the end. It’s all well and good that I enjoyed the show but I’m not the target demographic. When I see children engage with the show like I did today, that’s when I know the show has hit its target.
A children’s show lives and dies by its scenography and The Home Inside is bursting with life in that aspect. The set (Rebekah de Roo) appears simple at first but physically grows and moves with our protagonist through her own growth. I am mesmerised alongside the little ones at the projections (also de Roo) which act not only as a background but also as a glimpse into Winnie’s mind. The puppetry (designed/puppetered by Bridget Sanders and puppetered by Peggie Barnes) integrated extremely well into the piece and took on a life of its own when we entered Winnie’s ‘tantrum space’. I am a big fan of the Tūna puppet and flowing fabric used to accentuate the way it moves through space. However, the mask worn for the Pūriri moth puppet was less effective. The wings are absolutely gorgeous and work well to teach Winnie to breathe but the mask has an uncanniness to it that distracts me from the action. I just wish the mask could’ve been refined to be a bit more welcoming. That being said, making puppets is not an easy feat and I commend Sanders for her hard work in general.
The absolute winner of the whole show (and this is coming from someone who adores puppets to an alarming extent) was the music and sound design (Craig Sengelow and Thorin Williams). At no point did the sound overwhelm Rattenbury’s convincing performance, it instead guided it. The way each musical piece fit the emotion and energy of each scene was absolutely outstanding and I want to request that the tracks be put on Spotify so I can jam out to Winnie’s drawing song.
The Home Inside is a quick but engaging piece of children’s theatre that will have your little ones hooked from the moment the lights dim. It is not a stretch to say Wonderlight have done it again, and in a time where children’s theatre companies are dropping like flies hope they keep doing it.
The Home Inside is on at BATS Theatre from the 26th of June to the 5th of July at 10 am and 1 pm, you can get your tickets here. They are then on tour around the greater Wellington region.
Brie is an MFA graduate and Production Manager. They are one of the founders of Inconceivable Productions whose most recent production, HAUSDOWN, was nominated for Best in Fringe 2025. Brie is a big fan of children’s theatre, comedy and puppetry.
A children’s show lives and dies by its scenography and The Home Inside is bursting with life in that aspect. The set (Rebekah de Roo) appears simple at first but physically grows and moves with our protagonist through her own growth. I am mesmerised alongside the little ones at the projections (also de Roo) which act not only as a background but also as a glimpse into Winnie’s mind. The puppetry (designed/puppetered by Bridget Sanders and puppetered by Peggie Barnes) integrated extremely well into the piece and took on a life of its own when we entered Winnie’s ‘tantrum space’. I am a big fan of the Tūna puppet and flowing fabric used to accentuate the way it moves through space. However, the mask worn for the Pūriri moth puppet was less effective. The wings are absolutely gorgeous and work well to teach Winnie to breathe but the mask has an uncanniness to it that distracts me from the action. I just wish the mask could’ve been refined to be a bit more welcoming. That being said, making puppets is not an easy feat and I commend Sanders for her hard work in general.
The absolute winner of the whole show (and this is coming from someone who adores puppets to an alarming extent) was the music and sound design (Craig Sengelow and Thorin Williams). At no point did the sound overwhelm Rattenbury’s convincing performance, it instead guided it. The way each musical piece fit the emotion and energy of each scene was absolutely outstanding and I want to request that the tracks be put on Spotify so I can jam out to Winnie’s drawing song.
The Home Inside is a quick but engaging piece of children’s theatre that will have your little ones hooked from the moment the lights dim. It is not a stretch to say Wonderlight have done it again, and in a time where children’s theatre companies are dropping like flies hope they keep doing it.
The Home Inside is on at BATS Theatre from the 26th of June to the 5th of July at 10 am and 1 pm, you can get your tickets here. They are then on tour around the greater Wellington region.
Brie is an MFA graduate and Production Manager. They are one of the founders of Inconceivable Productions whose most recent production, HAUSDOWN, was nominated for Best in Fringe 2025. Brie is a big fan of children’s theatre, comedy and puppetry.