Space Hippo is a shadow-puppet show from the Book of Shadowz, a pair of puppeteers who combine Japanese and American art styles and disciplines to tell fairly unique stories.
The premise of Space Hippo is that the planet Earth is going to die due to climate change, and someone tells the Trump-shaped American President that we’re as likely to send a hippo into space as we are to fix the planet. So they send a hippo into space.
This style of slightly odd humour is the basis of this show. It’s shadow puppets on a projector, which essentially makes it live-action animation of a sort. (Turns out you can do cartoon animation live without it being a terrible strain on the animator’s wrists, who knew? )
Our heroic hippo is taken away from her baby, kidnapped and sent into space. Where they become embroiled in an intergalactic space war. And then get worshipped as a god. At one point, there’s a Lizard-Man who mostly just says ‘Lizard-Man’.
There’s a serious message about kindness, the planet and keeping one’s promises here, but mostly it’s about a hippo in space.
As a performance art piece, this is very much a curate’s egg. It feels like a live-action version of a Heavy Metal / Métal Hurlant comic strip at times, and at others just a child’s creative fever dream. The combination of light and shadow makes this a murky and strange experience, but certainly a memorable one. Very much the spirit of the fringe for 2025.
It’s an odd show. And it’s a little bit too dark for small kids, so take the 12+ age warning seriously if you go to see it. If nothing else, you’ll be able to tell everyone that you’ve seen a hippo go to space.
You can book tickets for the Edinburgh Fringe show here and learn more about the Book of Shadowz here.
