Adelaide Fringe
A theatre show scripted using Google searches somehow quietly transforms into a tender reflection on people and the ways they stay the same, even as technology changes. ★★★½
Adelaide Fringe
This confessional theatre performance by ‘serial nudist’ Frankie van Kan is a poetic and exhilarating exploration of sexuality and womanhood. ★★★★½
Adelaide Fringe
Isabella Perversi combines physical theatre, comedy and autobiographical writing to draw connections between crying and the arduous process of art-making. ★★★
Adelaide Fringe
This sharp new play from a team of young Adelaide theatre-makers is a guide to the grease, grime, and glory of making a living in restaurant work. ★★★★
Singer-songwriter Jamie MacDowell and beatboxer Tom Thum return to the Adelaide Fringe with new songs and the same masterful talent. ★★★★
This is comedic duo Mel & Sam’s third year at Adelaide Fringe. It is also their most chaotic, absurd and utterly hilarious show so far. ★★★★★
Unsuitable bachelors, mysterious illnesses, longing for love – Swoon is an effervescent hour of comedy cabaret for modern women with Austen-era problems. ★★★½
Feminist history lecture slash stand-up comedy, Whore’s Eye View gives an in-depth history of sex work from an insider’s perspective. ★★★
Adelaide Fringe’s former director Greg Clarke is back in his home town for the 2024 festival season – this time as a visual artist showing his paintings in an exhibition on the Fleurieu Peninsula with long-time friend Louise Vadasz.
Adelaide Fringe
Murder-mystery enthusiasts are invited to craft their own murder case in this chaotic, often hilarious improv show which puts the actors at the mercy of their audience. ★★★★
Adelaide Fringe
It’s Macbeth like you’ve never seen it before – intoxicated. Sh!t-faced Shakespeare has found a winning formula to make the Bard’s most famous works much more… entertaining. No offence, William. ★★★★
With more than the usual sleight of hand, this storytelling magician brings you on a journey you didn’t expect to undertake at a magic show. ★★★★★
Don’t let the title fool you: Anna Piper Scott delivers all queer stuff, with some neurodiverse bits thrown into her concoction of joy. ★★★★
Multi-disciplinary artist Matcho Makata communicates the essential conflicts of diaspora life in this layered and affecting exhibition. ★★★★
When head of department Nicky enters her boss Jo’s office for her yearly work review, she’s resigned to yet another meaningless form-filling exercise. What follows is anything but. ★★★★★
Joanne Hartstone has been involved in the Adelaide Fringe for almost 20 years as a performer, producer and presenter. Now she is part of the global Fringe ecosystem – helping bring shows here from overseas and even giving up her spare room to international artists.
Adelaide Fringe
Witness an ensemble of very lonely young people struggle to find love while submerged in a sea of dating apps and matching algorithms. ★★★½
Adelaide Fringe
Storyteller Narie Foster’s 1 in a Chameleon is a comedic and moving journey to self-acceptance. ★★★★
Adelaide Fringe audiences will be lured to the West End this year by attractions ranging from dance, theatre, music and circus shows across multiple venues, to a late-night underground party and an inflatable church hosting theatrical weddings.
Fast-paced improv translates poetry’s slow-burn in Haiku for You, and a theatre full of laughter ensues. Who would’ve ever guessed haiku was for everyone? ★★★½
Celebrated UK theatre-makers Wright & Grainger bring the old gods down to earth with their powerful weave of music and spoken word exploring where the divine reveals itself in our modern world. ★★★★
You may find yourself booking a real-life adventure at Ningaloo after watching this mesmerising undersea odyssey on the dome screen at the Freemasons Hall. ★★★½
Mary Coustas will be channeling her inner Effie again when she embarks on a national tour of her beloved and sassy big-haired Greek girl
Adelaide Fringe
The Grilling Season with Annabel Crabb provided some insight into the culinary arc of her political reporting career in this Fringe exclusive but ultimately played it too safe. ★★½
Adelaide Fringe
From Beyoncé to Balenciaga, Zan Rowe and Myf Warhurst serve up an entertaining hour of pop culture chat and ‘faarshun’ in this live version of their popular podcast. ★★★★
Although Tandanya’s future is uncertain, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and cultural leaders will make the most of the Adelaide Fringe season with events including gigs, stand-up shows, cultural tours, and a camping festival.
DJ Groove Terminator and the Soweto Gospel Choir use 30 years’ worth of club hits to take their audience on a nostalgic high-energy trip through the history of dance music. ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
In a set both approachable and engaging for diehard fans, Cal Williams Jr revisits Dylan classics with richly textured vocals and mesmerising guitar work. ★★★★½
Britt Plummer’s highly relatable tale of long-distance love is buoyed by moments of clowning brilliance but ultimately suffers from a lack of true intimacy. ★★½
From fascinating hybrid sculptures that blur the boundaries between natural and man-made forms, to a series of hanging prints of photos depicting life in the former Yugoslavia, the 2024 Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition offers plenty to explore.
Adelaide Fringe
Dozens of Adelaide Fringe shows this year are bringing art and science together in a way that promises festival-goers both entertainment and enlightenment.
Adelaide Fringe
Adam Page returns to the Adelaide Fringe with a show that pushes the boundaries of what audiences have seen him do before in a dynamic sound experience. ★★★★
With a skilled band arranged behind “Yellow Submarine” inspired props, singer Rachel Vidoni delivers a powerful hour of songs that goes way beyond nostalgia. ★★★★
Prepare to party like its 500 BCE as you journey into the hedonistic lives of the gods of Ancient Greece in the sinfully spectacular GODZ. ★★★★★
Limbo – The Return is a high-energy show displaying the power of beat-heavy music in a fire and acrobatics performance. ★★★½
UK company Mythological Theatre throws the battles of the Norse gods into the wrestling ring in this surprising form of (very) physical storytelling. ★★★★
Adelaide Fringe
Prinnie Stevens’ vocals send shivers down the spine in this intimate ode to powerful female singers who changed the music industry forever. ★★★★½
Adelaide Fringe
Sharp writing and dynamic performances stand out in this lively political satire about truth, revolt and the pitfalls of a society built on competition. ★★★★
For guaranteed laughs in the Garden of Unearthly Delights, you’d do far worse than Tommy Little’s stand-up show – potentially the most self-deprecating thing at the Adelaide Fringe. ★★★★
Arj Barker made a dramatic entrance before settling into a routine that reflected on how well we know the real world around us – especially in terms of our bodily functions. ★★★
Bisexual Intellectuals is a compelling, camp, and ultimately joyful love letter to those who have been unseen in popular culture. ★★★★½
The latest work from Japanese contemporary circus company Cirquework is a precise balancing act of tension, beauty and joy. ★★★★★
Adelaide Fringe
Tracy Crisp shares her hilariously hard-won Gen X wisdom in this insightful monologue about sewing, mothers, female friendship and being in the middle of middle age. ★★★★★
Adelaide Fringe
In this experimental work, performer Matt Pasquet bends, flips and morphs his body to create a kinetic story within a single square metre of light. ★★★★
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s renowned 1973 studio album, this hypnotic planetarium-inspired experience sets all 10 tracks to a psychedelic visual journey through the cosmos. ★★★
Once again, the UK’s Wright&Grainger prove the eternal relevance of Greek mythology with this entertaining and affecting adaptation of the Helios story. ★★★★
A science class with shenanigans, KABOOM! gives us fire and explosions, while imparting a few lessons along with way. ★★★★
This Shakespearean Soiree is a performance of “only the fun bits” from three of Shakespeare’s best-known works, with a modern delivery of the original lines giving the Bard a facelift. ★★★½
Adelaide Festival
As the 2024 summer festival season kicks off, we asked eight of our writers and reviewers to share tips for must-see shows and events across the Adelaide Fringe and Festival programs. Their recommendations offer something for every taste.
Adelaide Fringe
Refreshing Adelaide Fringe debutant Afrique en Cirque presents high-energy circus, joyful rhythms and mind-boggling acrobatics through the lens of West African culture. ★★★★½
When a play begins with a man screaming in a dumpster we know it is a story of the lower depths. England & Son is a corrosive account of the degradation of working people in the UK, escalated by the Thatcher years and even more pervasive today. ★★★★★
With her acid wit and memorably wicked aphorisms, Dorothy Parker is a rich subject for the stage, and playwright Annie Lux has seized the chance. ★★★
Adelaide Fringe’s Honey Pot marketplace has proven a valuable springboard for artists seeking opportunities for future touring, and it is hoped a new event with a specific focus on circus and physical theatre will bring even greater rewards.
A group of young Asian Australian creatives are rediscovering their roots as they prepare to pay tribute to two late Hong Kong idols during this year’s Adelaide Fringe.
Visual Art
In search of recalibration and reconnection to nature, ex-cricketer turned artist and arts worker Oakey found herself on an amazing adventure that also ended up providing the subject matter for her upcoming exhibition: Deep Rest.
Adelaide Fringe
Adelaide Fringe has launched its 2024 program with more than 1300 shows in 500-plus venues, ranging from an ‘art gallery under the stars’ in the Botanic Garden, to an immersive and cinematic Pink Floyd Experience, special DJ sets of Beatles and Fleetwood Mac remixes, cabaret treats, and the return of circus hit Limbo.
SA arts & culture news in brief: Australian Dance Theatre’s Daniel Riley to perform in a special return season of Tracker, Adelaide Fringe announces the first recipients of its 2024 grants, and a picnic to celebrate 35 years of Young Adelaide Voices.
SA arts and culture news in brief: A fellowship opportunity valued at more than $50,000, applications open for 2024 Fringe grants, changing roles at Windmill, teenager sought for cameo in State Opera’s Macbeth, young artist bound for Malaysia, and submissions sought for new First Nations anthology.
SA arts and culture news in brief: A pick and mix for guitar fans this weekend, get set for SALA, new music festival promises killer pop and death drops, work-in-progress showings shed light on Vitalstatistix’s untold history, submissions sought for 2024 Fringe poster design, and which book is currently most in-demand in SA’s libraries.
