Size Matters
★★★☆☆ Whimsical
Manipulate @ Traverse: Thu 5 – Fri 6 Feb 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
Size Matters, at the Traverse as part of the Manipulate festival, is an inventive if uneven production.
From Vanishing Point in association with Manipulate and Fidena, and written by Edinburgh-based Mamoru Iriguchi, it features puppetry, humour and ruminations on life, death and science.
Mamoru Iriguchi and Julia Darrouy in Size Matters, part of the Manipulate Festival 2026 at the Traverse. Pic: Tiu Makkonen.
Iriguchi and Julia Darrouy are Tangerine and Sunshine, who mysteriously spawn doubles of themselves who grow to enormous size. As the doubles grow, the original duo are represented by puppets, with the difference in size being represented by speeded-up or slowed-down heartbeats and dialogue.
The scientific background to the piece – smaller animals’ hearts beat faster, larger creatures experience time differently – is presented in a playful, undeniably pleasing way. There is an undoubted appeal to Iriguchi and Darrouy’s performances, and the puppets are beautifully made and deftly handled.
visual impact
Iriguchi and co-director and co-designer Fergus Dunnet have fashioned a production whose visual impact is striking, with Suzi Cunningham’s movement design and Greg Sinclair’s sound design also impressing.
Gavin Pringle is a third performer, at first represented by another puppet as he narrates, but later appearing as a full-size human (or ghost) as events take a turn for the weirdly meta.
Mamoru Iriguchi and Julia Darrouy in Size Matters, part of the Manipulate Festival 2026 at the Traverse. Pic: Tiu Makkonen.
While it is all entertaining, it does not all succeed completely. The second half’s examination of the processes of puppetry comes across as laboured, while the pacing throughout is suspect. Depending on your point of view, it is either wonderfully calm and meditative, or unnecessarily protracted.
Although billed as for age12+, and certainly touching on adult themes, the production sometimes has the repetitive and over-explanatory nature of some shows for the very young. Much of the dialogue, moreover, shades over from the poetic into the portentous.
This means that what could be straightforwardly enchanting becomes a rather prosaic affair. However, there can be no denying its charm.
Running time: One hour (no interval)
Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge St, EH1 2ED
Thursday 5 – Friday 6 February 2026
Daily at 6.15 pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Size Matters at the Traverse, as part of Manipulate 2026. Pic: Tiu Makkonen.
ENDS
