The Portable Dorothy Parker USA – Adelaide Fringe Premiere Holden Street Theatres (full run of Fringe)
The year is 1943; the place, a New York City hotel apartment. Dorothy Parker—writer, poet, screenwriter, critic, wit—is not happy. Viking Press is about to publish a collection of Dorothy’s poems and short stories, and an editor is about to show up at her door. Even worse, a young woman editor. They could have at least sent a man, preferably a good-looking young one. But of course all the men worth their salt are off fighting the Germans or Japanese, including Dottie’s husband Alan Campbell. As Dorothy sorts through her works, she reminisces about her life: her famous friends (Lillian Hellman, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Alexander Woollcott and, especially, Ernest Hemingway), the Algonquin Round Table, the founding of The New Yorker, and her many loves and heartbreaks. From the roaring days of Prohibition New York through 1930s Hollywood and the early years of World War II, Dorothy Parker was there, wielding her acid pen and razor-sharp wit.
This is the type of tightly written, keenly directed, subtly performed piece that is a pleasure to breathe in. Front Row Center (NYC)
The Portable Dorothy Parker is the labour of love by playwright Annie Lux, director Lee Costello, and actress Margot Avery. Since its premiere in 2017, the play has been performed at festivals and venues around the UK and the US, including notable runs at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017 and at the Phoenix Arts Club in London both in 2017. In the US the show has been seen at Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City, the 2017 Pittsburgh Fringe, FringeNYC, the Adobe Rose Theatre in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, the Hollywood Fringe Festival, the Blank Theatre in Los Angeles, and the Leslie Cheek Theater at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in Richmond, Virginia.
GRAV UK – Adelaide Fringe Premiere – Holden Street (full run of Fringe)
The Torch Theatre Company, Milford Haven, is delighted to bring Grav, its award-winning one man show about rugby legend and cultural icon Ray Gravell. Whether you are a Rugby fan or not, only the hardest of hearts would fail to enjoy this production. In October 2007 Ray Gravell, a man who for many embodied what it is to be Welsh, passed away aftersuccumbing to complications resulting from contracting diabetes. He was 56 years old. Known to millions for his legendary exploits on the rugby field, Grav was and is so much more thanthat. An actor, a cultural icon, a father, a husband, a man with a life packed full of stories that deserveto be heard. Written by Cardiff based playwright Owen Thomas, Grav has the blessing of Mari, Ray’s widow, and includes contributions from his Welsh and British Lions team mates. Directed by the Torch Theatre’s Artistic Director, Peter Doran, and performed by Gareth J Bale, Grav explores the life of a man who was as compelling away from the rugby field as he was on it.
Grav – the show that refuses to go away! It must’ve been seen by at least 10,000 people. In my forty years of working in the theatre I’ve never worked on a show with sure an appeal across the board. If you’ve not seen it, come and see what all the fuss is about – you won’t regret it I can assure you. – Peter Doran
Winner of the Laurel Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2015), Best Production Winner, Wales Theatre Awards (2016), and after a successful tour of Wales and North America (2018), Grav will remind the you once more of a unique life well lived and of a man who did so much more than eat soft centres.
Blood of the Lamb USA – Adelaide Fringe Premiere – Migration Museum (full run of Fringe)
After her transcontinental flight is diverted to Dallas, Nessa inexplicably finds herself trapped in a room with Val, a lawyer for the state. Nessa just wants to leave on the next plane, but this is Texas. New and constantly changing laws prohibit her from leaving the state and her life is in danger. Can Val be persuaded to go against her convictions, putting her own career on the line in order to help Nessa escape?
Taking place only a week into our future, Blood of The Lamb is a searing Kafka-esque drama about the criminalisation of abortion in the US and resulting bureaucratic chaos.
Following the 2022 Supreme Court’s reversal of its 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade – a precedent that had enshrined abortion as a constitutional right – US states were given the power to set their own laws on the issue. Texas is now amongst the 14 US States in which there is a total ban. In the Lone Star Stage abortion is now a first or second degree felony and carries with it a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Sherlock Holmes – The last Act UK – Adelaide Fringe Premiere – Goodwood Theatre (10 shows – weekends only)
It is 1916. Drawn from two years’ Sussex retirement for the funeral of his friend, Dr Watson, Holmes returns to Baker Street to resolve ‘the last act’.
Written by Conan Doyle expert David Stuart Davies and directed by award-winning Gareth Armstrong, Sherlock Holmes – The Last Act see Nigel Miles Thomas back in Edinburgh, after spending the last year taking his critically acclaimed interpretation of the enigmatic sleuth across the world with his previous show The Return of Sherlock Homes
Sherlock Holmes – The Last Act shows the man behind the myth, exposing the great detective’s fears and weaknesses, the devastating consequences of the dramas of his formative years, and, unexpectedly, his cutting sense of humour. A gripping story is told, featuring cross-examinations and heated arguments between Holmes and Watson, with 14 characters, all played by Miles-Thomas in a theatrical tour-de-force.
Writer, David Stuart Davies, BSI has studied Conan Doyle’s writing since his university thesis on Sherlock Holmes in 1977. He has written several Sherlock Holmes novels and plays and is respected as an international authority on the subject. He is, of course, a long-term member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, and for eleven years he devised and presented the Society’s annual Film Night
As a professional actor Nigel Miles Thomas career spans forty years. He has been in over 100 productions worldwide including London’s West End and Steven Berkoff’s company. He has directed Zza Zza Gabor in Hollywood and still lives to tell the tale. On television he has performed in Dr Who and among many appearances was Mr Davies the PE teacher in BBC’s Grange Hill, The Professionals, Minder, The Dick Emery Shows, The Story of English and Middlemarch for the BBC.
Wright & Grainger return to Adelaide for a 5th year with two premieres and two popular returns.
HELIOS UK Adelaide Fringe Premiere| The Yurt at Migration Museum, 16th – 22nd Feb & 5th – 17th March (full run of Fringe)
Wright & Grainger’s HELIOS opened to critical acclaim and a Summerhall Lustrum Award at Edinburgh Fringe 2023. A story about the son of the god of the sun, HELIOS is about the pride of young boys and the invisible memories we bury in our landscape; it’s about stealing cars and riding a golden chariot across the sky. Told by a solo storytelling with a cinematic score it’s a ‘shining piece of theatrical alchemy’ (Lyn Gardner).
ORPHEUS UK Return season | The Yurt at Migration Museum, 23rd Feb – 3rd March (one week only)
9 performances of Fringe Favourite ORPHEUS. ORPHEUS has played to thousands of audience in Adelaide over the years, earning two Five Star reviews from The Advertiser, two Best Theatre Awards, a heap of critical acclaim and an ever growing fan base. It’s a retelling of an ancient myth, through spoken word and live music, bringing a very old story bang up to date. Having played the show in rose gardens, in the middle of a lake, in cafes, on boats, in railway arches and the very occasional theatre, this year Wright&Grainger are very proud to be bringing the show to The Yurt at Migration Museum.
Wright & Grainger Play it and Say it UK Adelaide Fringe Premiere| The Courtyard at The Treasury 1860, 24th & 25th Feb
5 years touring to Adelaide makes this city Wright&Grainger’s home-from-home. So, to celebrate the two lads from rural North Yorkshire are doing two very special nights of Wright & Grainger SAY IT & PLAY IT. Pull up a chair in the beautiful courtyard at The Treasury 1860 for a night full of stories, poems, music and songs you won’t have heard before. Order something tasty from the gorgeous food and wine offering at Treasury 1860, and be whisked away in Wright & Grainger’s words and music. Across all this Wright & Grainger are teaming up with their long term dear pal, the very multi award winning fringe royalty Joanne Hartstone. The teamhave been working together since 2012 and show no sign of slowing down. They’re also joined by Tom Oliver Productions who have pioneered Wynnum Fringe in Queensland and who joined the Wright&Grainger family in 2023.
THE GODS THE GODS THE GODS UK Return season | The Garden Of Unearthly Delights, 26th Feb – 3rd March
Wright & Grainger are teaming up with Peta Spurling-Brown and John Glenn from Hey Dowling for a special week of late night euphoria with THE GODS THE GODS THE GODS – a 12 track electronica album with 4 narratives woven through. Played as an immersive gig, it won Best Theatre and Critics Circle awards in 2023. On the Friday and Saturday night expect to stay late as Wright & Grainger and Hey Dowling throw some damn big post show parties with special guest performers bringing the vibe until the early hours in The Garden Of Unearthly Delights
Meg In The Magic Toyshop – First time in a theatre space Warehouse Theatre (weekends only) Immersive and whimsical pre-school theatre
Vintage Vendetta Productions brings its magical pre-school theatre show ‘Meg in the Magic Toyshop’ to The Warehouse Theatre over three weekends March 1st – 17for the Adelaide Fringe. Written specifically for pre-schoolers aged 3-6, this family friendly theatre show was conceived by and features all South Australian talent; Merrilyn Greer as the toyshop doll ‘Meg’, Leah Gauthier and Mia Ferraretto in the role of ‘Penny’ the toy soldier. Using immersive stories, dances and timeless children’s songs, this show combines the warm, cosy feeling of childhood days gone by with whimsical fun for today.
‘Meg in the Magic Toyshop’ premiered at the 2018 Adelaide Fringe it has since played at Streatham Fringe (2018), Brighton Fringe (2022) and Wandsworth Arts Fringe (2022, 2023). It The show won the Wandsworth Arts Fringe Artist Grant for both the 2022 and 2023 seasons. 2024 marks the shows return to Adelaide Fringe this time in a set home of The Warehouse Theatre. In May 2024 it will appear back at Brighton Fringe in May 2024.
Plus Afghanistan is Not Funny UK return season The Studio, Holden Street Theatres
He had machine guns pointed at him. He narrowly dodged a landmine. He was abducted by a local militia and threatened with murder by a war criminal…’Afghanistan Is Not Funny’ is an autobiographical show about comedian Henry Naylor’s shocking 10-day trip to bomb-damaged post-Taliban Afghanistan in 2002. Invited by a war correspondent friend, Naylor travelled to post-war Kabul see the damage with stills photographer Sam Maynard. But after seeing bomb destruction, landmine victims and refugees – his life was transformed. He metamorphised from a stand-up comedian – into a playwright obsessed with the West’s interaction with the Middle East.
Subsequently, his series of shows – entitled ‘The Arabian Nightmares’ – have been some of the most decorated in the history of the Adelaide Fringe. Four of his ‘Arabian Nightmares’ have played here – three have won the Overall Adelaide Critics Circle Awards, another Best Overall Theatre, and in total they have won 7 Weekly Awards. The plays have been translated into 12 languages, and in all, have won 39 major theatre awards world-wide – in France, Edinburgh, Los Angeles, Prague and Norway. Naylor himself performs this autobiographical show, which describes his transformative, and dangerous trip
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