PILGRIM

Behind the gentle humour and spare theatricality of PILGRIM lies years of rigorous physical training, philosophical inquiry and a quietly radical approach to performance. For Kate Walder and Steps & Holes, the show is not simply a solo piece — it is the latest evolution of a practice that treats the stage as a space for shared vulnerability, play and transformation.

Walder’s work draws strongly from the European clowning tradition, particularly the pedagogy of Philippe Gaulier, whose teaching emphasises pleasure, failure and an unguarded relationship with the audience. Rather than chasing jokes, performers are invited to follow impulse, presence and emotional truth — allowing comedy and connection to emerge organically. In PILGRIM, this lineage is visible not in broad gags but in the delicacy of Walder’s performance: moments of awkwardness, wonder, doubt and quiet revelation.

At the heart of the work is a journey — both literal and symbolic — inspired by the Zen Ten Ox-Herding Pictures, an ancient sequence of images representing the search for meaning, loss, return and transformation. Walder’s “accidental pilgrim” moves through landscapes of belief, grief, love and renewal, encountering moments of humour alongside profound stillness. Music, storytelling, movement and ritual weave together to create a theatrical language that feels at once intimate and expansive.

Steps & Holes have become known for work that uses the archetype of the fool to explore big human questions with warmth and clarity. Their productions resist spectacle for spectacle’s sake, instead placing the audience in a shared experience of attention and reflection. In an age of high-speed consumption, PILGRIM offers something quietly radical: slowness, presence and emotional honesty.

The Adelaide Fringe provides a fitting home for this kind of exploratory performance. Long a hub for innovative physical theatre, clowning and genre-crossing work, the festival continues to attract artists pushing beyond traditional narrative forms. PILGRIM sits comfortably within that tradition while offering its own distinct voice — one shaped by international training and deeply personal storytelling.

For Walder, the work is as much about connection as it is about performance. Each show becomes a living exchange between performer and audience, where laughter, silence and recognition hold equal weight. It is theatre that trusts its viewers — to feel, to reflect and to meet the work halfway.

As contemporary performance continues to blur boundaries between comedy, ritual and storytelling, PILGRIM stands as a compelling example of how ancient ideas and modern theatrical craft can merge into something quietly powerful — a reminder that sometimes the most transformative journeys happen in the smallest of spaces.