Theatre Company Smoking Apples like to use inventive puppetry to tell vital and important stories. With In Our Hands they offer a tale of the unstable fishing industry in Cornwall. However, this is not the full story, as the topics of loneliness, old age, family and fatherhood are also tackled in a subtle and delicate manner.

Throughout the performance there is no spoken dialogue. The only words come from radios and answering machine messages. No one seems to pick up the phone in the world of In Our Hands and the radio always seems to have something profound to say. This element does moves the narrative forward, however the pacing of the story relies too heavily on missed calls and domestic settings where radios are present. The story itself focusses on an ageing fisherman as he struggles with financial debt and old age. It is a heartfelt account of a lonely life in an ever changing world.

What makes In Our Hands such a visually appealing show is the different types of puppetry that the audience have the opportunity to enjoy. Shadow puppetry sets the scene and the clever use of folded newspapers to depict a flock of seagulls is inventive and underlines the imagination onstage. The set also has a major role in the performance, as it is deconstructed and moved around the stage to change locations and present transitions from one situation to another. The puppets for the father and son characters are fairly abstract and only consist of head and hands. The puppeteers have the task of instilling emotion and giving a physicality to the characters and do so with slight movements and minute gestures.

In Our Hands is pleasant to watch, but does suffer from a linear storyline that has too few twists and turns to get the viewer gripped. Visually it is pleasurable and filled with unique and inventive ideas. Smoking Apples clearly have an appetite for puppetry and it is very much hoped that they can transfer their ambitious ideas to a more complex and exciting story.