A showcase of puppetry traditions

THERE'S always a sincere, salt-of-the-earth quality about The Finger Players' theatrical productions. They rarely have anything outrageous to do with sex, politics or religion. They centre around characters searching for a connection or meaning, or just trying to survive the day-to-day.

And so it is that The Collectors, a site-specific showcase of short works, kicks off the company's new season. There are hand and string puppetry performances, simple shadow play, a film excerpt and even a brief lecture about sound recording.

There is as much performance here as there is behind-the-scenes exposition on who the artists are and why they do what they do.