Adelaide Fringe

Attracting huge crowds and some of the world’s most entertaining performers, the Adelaide Fringe is the largest open-access arts festival in the Southern Hemisphere—and our longest-running festival partnership.

We’re proud to say 2024 is our ninth year of partnering with the Fringe, with our connections to the arts continuing to flourish. Fringe kicked off on Friday 16 February and runs through until Sunday 17 March, showcasing over 400 events across 13 performance genres, including cabaret, comedy, circus, dance, film, theatre, music and visual arts.

Check out the program here!

We're proud to host multiple events on campus and watch our students and alumni light up the festival once gain.

 Adelaide Fringe

Amazing opportunities for students

Our partnership with the Fringe gives University of Adelaide students the chance to gain life-changing and career-shaping, real-world arts experience.

Let our students see the shows and report back on what you should be seeing

In 2024, University of Adelaide Creative Arts students have the opportunity to attend and review multiple Adelaide Fringe shows—and have their reviews published! Their critiques were posted here plus our social channels, and best of all, on the Adelaide Fringe website.

And while they got to bask in the glory of authorship, those of us who read their work got the benefit of being one step closer to overcoming the volume of choice - a win-win!

Meet your festival reviewers for this year!

Leah Seager

Student reviewer: Leah Seager

Leah is a recent graduate of the University of Adelaide and currently works as a content creator within the University's Social team. This Fringe season, Leah has delved into the heart of Adelaide's bustling arts scene. With a passion for the arts and storytelling, she has been attending and reviewing a variety of shows that highlight the Fringe Festival's reputation for being both accessible and enjoyable. Check out her reviews on our TikTok here and here!

David Friswell

Student reviewer: David Friswell

David is currently studying BA (Advanced), majoring in creative writing and film studies. They have a deep love for the cinematic, the dramatic and will seek out diverse performance wherever they can find it! Their picks may be absurd and out-there, but they hope you'll find some method in their madness.

  • David's Review: 10000 Views and Nothing to Lose

    Situated in homely Ayers House Library, there is nowhere to hide for Stella Kappos and Jackson Grant, and they know it. Instant awkwardness abounds upon entry, driven in desperate small talk by Stella while Jackson hides himself behind a curtain that conceals absolutely nothing to the majority of the room. To one eye, it would be very easy to write this show off upon entry as uncomfortable and strange. However, I would invite viewers to probe deeper, as within this show lie two very funny comics who will do anything for the internet fame they simultaneously crave and malign. At first glance it may appear to need some polish, but it could also very easily be the craft these two comedians have pulled together to prove that stand-up doesn’t need confidence, it just needs to be funny. These two are clearly ones to watch for this year and future years, if Stella can drag herself away from her cubes and Jackson stops watching convicts on Youtube.

    ***^ - 3.5/5 stars

  • David's Review: England & Son

    As someone who grew up in a post-industrial city in Northern England, I had heard similar stories before, but never one with such a razor’s edge. This is not an easy play. This is a confrontation. Mark Thomas will not let you look away as he surges across the stage with the desperate urgency of someone who needs us all to understand. As he digs down into his own psyche, we see a shell of masculinity and British post-Empire, post-Thatcher, ‘BOSH’-esque behaviour be stripped away to reveal a scrawny child who just wants his dad to truly love him. Whoever reads this review must see this play. A dirty, battered gem tucked into the corner of Holden Street Theatre, this show will hit with the bite of an oik outside Wetherspoons on a Saturday.

    ***** - 5/5 stars

  • David's Review: Things I know to be true

    Loc’ally Theatr, in their first production, provide a serviceable rendition of a play that occupies a special place within my heart. As with lots of companies’ first productions, this one appears to have been unable to avoid the pitfalls of over-direction. The actors all provide enjoyable performances, with particular credit going to Gwydion Rozitisolds for their versatility. However, my main qualm with this play lies within the direction, which has resulted in over-stylisation at the cost of emotion. Every movement is calculated, even when raw emotion must overtake. While a valiant first effort from a budding company, who clearly know how to pick great plays to produce, I wish they had placed more confidence in the quality of their actors and allowed the raw emotion that simmers under this script to escape a bit more. That being said, the quality of set was remarkable for a first production, with a homely aesthetic being instantly recognisable upon entry to the theatre, with cozy yellow lights illuminating the stage and audience.

    **^ - 2.5/5 stars

  • David's Review: Wright & Grainger's Helios

    The Yurt provides the perfect setting for Wright&Grainger’s Helios, a modern-day retelling of the classic myth. Set in rural north Yorkshire, Alex Wright’s penchant for performance storytelling and poetry are inescapable as you find yourself sucked into a world of youthful pride, love and loss. This vibrant mythos is informed by an ancient sense of ritual, and hearkens back to the earliest times of stories, situated around a campfire in the dark. These old tales teach us lessons, and Wright&Grainger want to take these lessons and shine a ray of sun on them. This searing production sets alight the old story of Phaethon’s hubris and reinvigorates it around a young boy desperate to find his way in the backroads maze of pastoral England. Another must-watch for this year’s Fringe.

    ****^ - 4.5/5 stars

  • David's Review: Red District

    My first Cabaret show of the fringe, and it did not disappoint. Raunchy, athletic and saucy beyond belief, featuring an all-star cast of some of Australia’s best and brightest performers, they slither and pounce across the stage with a vicious animal energy that will keep you on the edge of your seat. In between performances hilarious MC Hew Parham chairs the evening with a slimy charisma that settles him right in with the best of them. The only downside was the seating of the octagon which made it difficult to see the stage. Soaring and scintillating, this is a Cabaret that won’t let you fall, no matter what.

    ****^ - 4.5/5 stars

  • David's Review: Daddy Algorithm

    The Lark provides the ideal performance space for Daddy Algorithm, which follows a pair of chronic online daters whose partners continue to disappoint. The question that has to be asked however is will they disappoint each other? Definitely not disappointing in performance, though some of the comedy starts to strain by the end. However, overall it was still a really enjoyable experience, full of wisecracks and some really top-notch buffoonery.

    ***^ - 3.5/5 stars

  • David's Review: Unplugged

    I’ve struggled to write this review over the last day or so, simply because it was a lot to process. Crammed in a stuffy room, having had to sprint to make it on time, I was already sweating by the time the show began. And what a show it was. Dazzling technical prowess added to Wundes’ already dynamic range and instant presence. However, the technical skills clearly needed a budgetary boost, which doesn’t detract at all from the incredible show that I experienced. A place of queer experience and joy in a world that is in dire need of it.

This internship taught me exactly all of the required skills and tasks needed to have a career in my field. Furthermore, it helped me secure a job as Assistant Accountant in Adelaide Fringe itself. It helped me build networks with people in the accounting industry. I was mentored by Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, who guided me on how to pursue future career goals. And I built confidence, as my supervisor helped me prepare for interviews and focused on personality development too.

 

Avishi Gupta

Avish Gupta

Adelaide Fringe intern in 2021, and now Adelaide Fringe Assistant Accountant. 

Internships

Our Adelaide Fringe internships are offered year-round, and are available to all students enrolled in our Arts Internship course. They can span anything from business development, marketing and ticketing, to membership, communications and finance.

Internships, like those at Fringe, allow students to dip their toes in to real-world-experiences and master applying their studies through on the job practice. It’s also not unusual for students to be invited by their supervisors to stay onboard, or come back the following year, in a paid role.

Event participation

Our students get frequent opportunities to be involved in various aspects of Fringe events and programs. For example, in 2020 and 2021 a number of our Indigenous students were able to work as volunteers on the stunning cultural light show Yabarra: Dreaming of Light, staged at the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute.

University of Adelaide students have also been strongly involved in the Fringe's Opening Night celebrations including; Tindo Utpurndee/Sunset Ceremony, Parade of Light instillations and the famous 'Parade' throughout the seven years of partnership.

Exclusive industry workshops

Attending workshops is another fantastic benefit for our students, introduced last year.

Throughout the 2022 and 2023 festivals students were lucky enough to attend the Fringe's Honey Pot Marketplace, which included networking opportunities workshops and seminars, focusing on sustainability, wellbeing and tackling a COVID affected arts sector. More details to come for 2024 opportunities!

Our special offers 

Our partnership brings many special benefits for University students, staff and alumni. Check out our socials for the latest competitions and giveaways for 2024!