★★★★1/2

Adelaide Fringe. Holden Street Theatres. Judy’s. 19 Feb 2026

 

Not the most attention-grabbing of titles. I wouldn’t have rushed to see this show. But, oh my, I am so glad I saw it.

 

One may call it one of the “sleepers” of the Fringe—really obscure but with potential to be a must-see.

 

And, audiences shouldn’t hesitate about booking because it is in one of the tiniest of Fringe venues—Judy’s—a room in the main house at Holden Street.

 

Vera Shrimp may well meet you at the door. She’s a wee English schoolgirl girl with a dramatic pageboy fringe and beautiful sad brown eyes.

 

She will explain how nervously she is doing a school project on water about which,  for one reason and another, she has become something of an expert. Her anxiety is so pitifully acute that one just wants to take her home and look after her. But she wants to impress and she has done the work. So, we see how water moves and evaporates. She has demonstrations. And she has slides which she projects over a wall absolutely covered in school notes and data.

 

Gradually we learn why she has this preoccupation as she reveals something of her peer group and parents. Therein it weaves into a vivid audio-visual tale of the cloudbursts of loss which have been her life. She draws us in closer and closer in the tiny, close room. And our emotions ride into hers and the beauty of sadness is profound.

 

Vera Shrimp is just not ordinary. And its performer, Martha Walker, is not ordinary, either.

 

She’s quite a marvel.

Get thee to Judy and see for yourself.

 

Samela Harris

 

When: 19 Feb to 22 Mar

Where: Holden Street Theatres

Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au