The rising SA stars of the Adelaide Fringe to watch in 2025

Budding clowns, Y2K pop princesses and passionate poets, there’s a whole new breed of young talents ready to be discovered at the country’s biggest arts festival.

Three of SA's rising stars of the Adelaide Fringe. Pictures: Supplied

From budding clowns and new youth theatre collectives to Y2K pop princesses and passionate poets, there’s a whole new breed of young South Australian performers waiting to be discovered at this year’s Adelaide Fringe.

Of the 1300 shows and events in the program, around 750 each year are homegrown, putting their talent on display in the hope of finding an audience – and new career opportunities.

With Mad March on the horizon, it’s time to get out and meet some of the freshest acts and rising stars of the Adelaide Fringe.

Poppy Mee

Show: Psychopomp

Venue: The Breakout at The Mill

Dates: February 28 – March 16

Poppy Mee in Psychopomp. Picture: Daniel Marks

Actor, writer and theatre maker Poppy Mee is back with a “divine” new Adelaide Fringe show called Psychopomp which introduces audiences to the God Between Life and Death.

This god has decided to visit living souls for the first time through the vessel of a lowly mortal – Poppy herself.

“Psychopomp came out of a longish period of depression and ongoing anxiety, followed by attending clown school on the other side of the world,” Mee says.

“Initially, it was an exercise in giving myself permission to explore my own thoughts about mortality and my own mental health in a creative, constructive, pleasurable way.”

The show was developed through The Mill multi-arts hub’s Centre Stage Residency program.

Since completing her undergraduate training at AC Arts in 2017, Mee has worked as an actor, writer and theatre maker on numerous local and interstate stage and screen projects, including Heavy Red, Lucy and DiC, and Stateless.

In 2019 she was the recipient of a Carclew Fellowship to study theatre-making at Fourth Monkey in London, resulting in her first solo project, A Slight Exaggeration, which premiered at The Mill for Adelaide Fringe in 2021.

As a member of RUMPUS Theatre she performed in various productions as well as serving as co-head writer on Hamlet In The Other Room (2021).

Mee recently undertook specialist training at L’Ecole Philippe Gaulier in France, studying Le Jeu (play) and clowning performance technique.

“Creating this show gave me an avenue to explore a character that bears witness to human life from an objective perspective,” Mee says.

“Through Psychopomp’s eyes, we see human life as nothing more or less than an opportunity for a good story – and Psychopomp loves a good story.

“Audiences can expect to get involved in the silliest existential debate, which ultimately asks them to consider what they want their own story to be.”

Odd Sockz Theatre Collective

Show: I Still Have No Friends

Venue: Mercury Cinema

Dates: March 7-16

Odd Sockz Theatre Collective founders Oona Stephen, Kate Wooding, Zoe Hourigan and Cormac Lee. Picture: Supplied

A brand new, South Australian youth theatre group, Odd Sockz Theatre Collective has been formed and run entirely by four 17-year-old friends to create opportunities for young artists.

Its debut production I Still Have No Friends, by local playwright Alby Grace, is a self-funded production with a cast and crew all aged under 20.

“We’re really excited about this project, and we hope that people embrace our passion for theatre,” says co-founder Oona Stephen.

Cormac Lee, Zoe Hourigan, Kate Wooding and Stephen have been making theatre together for five years, after meeting at the age of 12 as members of SAYArts, working with established playwright Finnegan Krukemyer to create a show for the 2021 DreamBIG festival.

Since then, they have worked with award-winning directors Zoe Tidemann and Nate Troisi, on shows presented at the 2022 and 2024 Fringes.

When SAYArts closed its doors last year, the four friends were left wondering how they could continue doing what they loved.

“We realised how hard it is to find chances to perform when you’re young, and they’re even harder to find if you don’t have the ability to pay high fees for lessons or production costs,” Lee says.

“We thought that we could solve that by using our experience to create opportunities for other young people.”

I Still Have No Friends features 15 roles for young actors.

Written specifically for a youth cast, the play is about a group of teenagers stranded at a youth leadership conference after an apocalyptic event.

Described as a grungy, modern take on Lord of the Flies, it deals with themes important to young people such as power politics, disaster and relationships.

Praise Mangena

Show: Art is the Medium

Venue: The Breakout at The Mill

Dates: February 28 – March 16

Praise Mangena, centre, in Art Is The Medium. Picture: Morgan Sette

Multidisciplinary artist Praise Mangena says her new project Art is the Medium is an expression of life through dance, music and spoken word poetry.

“It is a journey exploring our existence as human beings in crisis, love and chaos – so be prepared to be carried away by the sound of music, carefully crafted words and free-flowing movement,” she says.

Collaborating with musicians Jack Green and Jade Iannella, Mangena will perform pieces that speak directly from the heart.

“No longer just an incarnation, I am the threads in words that spell out the birth of Nubian Queen,” she says.

The project was developed through The Mill’s Centre Stage Residency, in partnership with ARTS Unlimited and the Adelaide Fringe Foundation.

Over the past three years Mangena has featured in a variety of events and performances such as Word on the Street Vol. 2, Draw Your (S)words, SA Playwrights Reading Night, Mixed Bag Poetry, Soul Lounge and WOMADelaide.

This year, she also debuted as a music video director, working under the company name of Adverse Reign, with the song Kabala by fellow artist Magajie, adding scriptwriter to her list of skills.

Ryan Mason

Show: Ryan Mason Wastes His Potential

Venue: Piglet at Gluttony

Dates: March 11-16

Ryan Mason or Ryan Mason Wastes His Potential. Picture: Kyahm Ross

In 2019, Ryan Mason was voted “Most likely to become Prime Minister” at his high school graduation. It was a time when he had hopes, dreams and aspirations.

Now, the 22-year-old is performing his new stand-up comedy show, Ryan Mason Wastes His Potential, in a shipping container.

Mason recently quit his teaching job to concentrate on being a comedian, which he says almost everyone agrees was a really terrible idea.

“There’s something so special about being able to focus on my art. When I had a real job, I just didn’t get the same rush,” he says.

“I also didn’t get the same constant, overwhelming feeling of financial uncertainty, but oh well …”

The show touches on Mason’s “tragic-music-theatre-kid” background, lived experience of disability, and northern suburbs upbringing, exploring themes of identity, family and social justice.

The two-time RAW Comedy state finalist’s first solo show, Ryan Mason Disappoints His Parents, played to sold-out houses and won last year’s One To Watch Award at the Fringe.

Charlee Watt

Show: Beating Up The Beatles

Various venues

Dates: February 21 – March 16

Charlee Watt in Beating Up The Beatles. Picture: Mikaela Frick Photography

Beating a new beat for lovers of The Beatles is Charlee Watt, a powerhouse 19-year-old vocalist and past winner of the Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Encore Award.

In her show Beating Up The Beatles, Charlee and her own FAB4 ensemble will present a fresh, intimate interpretation of songs originally written and recorded by arguably the most beloved band of all time.

From early hits like Can’t Buy Me Love to later classics such as All You Need Is Love, Watt explores the lyrics of Lennon and McCartney while channelling the sass and stylings of legends from the jazz world.

Through unique arrangements and storytelling, Watt also connects listeners to the music by adding personal anecdotes and humour to her powerful reworkings of Beatles standards.

She describes the effect as a “transformative experience” that will reintroduce audiences to songs they thought they knew, with a depth that resonates well beyond the stage.

Watts received the 2021 Class of Cabaret scholarship and the following year presented Both Sides Now, her tribute to Joni Mitchell and Carole King, aged just 17.

Safari Street Creative

Show: Stabbing The Ghost

Venue: The Arch, Holden Street Theatres

Dates: February 20 – March 2

Spencer Scholz and Samantha Riley in Stabbing the Ghost by Safari Street Creative. Picture: Supplied

Safari Street Creative are Spencer Scholz and Samantha Riley, who have written and performed four original plays in the past five years, gathering a swag of five-star reviews and awards along the way.

Known for pushing boundaries with contemporary and controversial subject matter, the duo’s latest work Stabbing The Ghost grapples with an age of media saturation and the public’s evolving relationship with it.

Scholz says the dark comedy examines the concept of truth when so much of our understanding of it is viewed through a screen, a headline and an internet connection.

“I was fascinated with the paradox … as soon as anything is photographed, filmed or written down trying to depict reality, it inherently becomes warped into something that is not reality,” he says.

Riley says they “really relish tackling modern hot-button issues” that will get audiences talking.

“We’ve always tried to push ourselves further each year with the work that we do so this felt like the natural progression of that. The show is so fast-paced and the characters (are) so biting and fun to play,” she says.

The pair met while both studying at the University of Ballarat Arts Academy. Scholz went on to work as an actor with the Australian Shakespeare Company, Red Stitch Actors Theatre and See Saw Films, while Riley turned her talents to musical theatre, touring in some of the country’s biggest productions, and directing independent theatre.

Since returning to SA in 2016, the pair have devoted themselves to telling fresh stories which are “dangerous, exhilarating and without ceremony”.

George Glass

Shows and dates: Scientology The Musical, March 6-11, Bradbury The Musical, February 28-March 3and Cigarettes The Musical, March 13-23

Venue: Main stage at Arthur Arthouse

Adelaide Fringe 2025. George Glass' Scientology The Musical. Picture: Supplied

Known for their boundary-pushing humour, this funk-rock trio have faced harassment over their show Scientology: The Musical, had Olympic speed skater legend Steven Bradbury attend their musical about him, and won multiple awards at the Adelaide Fringe for both music and comedy.

George Glass – who claim to have “turned down lucrative careers as supermodels” – have also sold out performances interstate and at the Edinburgh Fringe in the UK.

This year, they return with three shows, including another deep dive into “the world’s most interesting legally-a-religion” complete with outrageous costumes, to reveal the secrets of the universe.

They claim Tom Cruise will definitely not be attending: “See it before we get sued”.

In its brand new show, George Glass sets out to promote one of the biggest killers on the planet with an absurd comedy about cigarettes.

When the gang are approached by big tobacco to write a musical promoting smoking, things quickly spiral out of control.

Chloe Castledine

Show: So Fresh! Hits of the 2000s

Venue: May Wirth at Gluttony

Dates: February 25 – March 9

Chloe Castledine in So Fresh! Hits of the 2000s. Picture: Rachel Scholich

At age 16, Chloe Castledine was singing on national TV and the youngest performer on talent show Star Struck.

Now, as well as writing and performing her own music, she is creator and manager of The Cast Entertainment – a boutique company that covers live music and show production for public events.

Her latest Fringe show takes its title from the popular series of hits compilation CDs released in the early 2000s.

“I grew up wanting so badly to be a pop star, so as a young adult stepping into Y2K, artists like Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, The Veronicas and bands like Evanescence and Coldplay really lit a fire in me and fuelled that desire,” Castledine says.

“But who had the cash to spend on each album? Those So Fresh CDs were a lifesaver. The music of that day shaped my whole career.”

In So Fresh, Castledine leads a 10-piece ensemble, including the Impact Entertainment dancers, to creatively bring to life the Noughties’ top bangers in a spectacular, “hair-raising” way.

She says it will be a “Y2K party all over again” that reimagines songs by acts including pop idols Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, rock bands Good Charlotte and Jet, and all the genres in between.

“It’s unbelievable that these songs are now considered ‘retro’ because there’s no doubt most of these tunes are now on our Spotify playlists,” Castledine says.

“Nothing screams the Noughties more than a So Fresh compilation CD that you probably bought at a Sanity store, with the money you earned from working at Maccas.”

Her talent and hard work has resulted in Castledine winning the Sarah Rohrsheim Award for outstanding contributions to the arts, performing at New Year’s Eve celebrations in Elder Park, and being director, producer and writer for Civic Park Carols at Tea Tree Gully.

She’s also had exposure to the inner workings of Bollywood as personal assistant to Priyanka Chopra – with whom she shared a scene – on the film Love Story 2050.

Castledine’s previous Fringe hit ’80s Ladies featured songs by Whitney, Madonna, Kylie and Cyndi, among others, but So Fresh finds her moving into the new millennium.

“Is it too soon to be nostalgic over the noughties? Never!”

Talita Fontainha

Show: Amazonia

Venue: The Octagon at Gluttony

Dates: March 15 and 22

Amazonia dance show by TQ Productions. Talita Fontainha, choreographer and artistic director of TQ Productions. Picture: Inacio Pinto/Nachos Film

Vibrant culture and lush landscapes from the remote Amazon rainforest will be celebrated in a new Brazilian dance spectacular created in Adelaide.

Amazonia, which will premiere at the Fringe in March, uses the power of movement to shine a light on global issues such as deforestation and climate change.

TQ Productions artistic director and choreographer Talita Fontainha, who comes from Rio de Janeiro and moved to Adelaide in 2018, says the show will combine Brazilian heritage with contemporary dance, acrobatics, live drumming, stunning costumes and pyrotechnics.

“Amazonia isn’t just a dance show; it’s a rallying cry,” Fontainha says.

“It’s about raising awareness of the Amazon’s breathtaking beauty and the critical threats it faces, all through the universal language of dance.”

The show follows young character Moa and her fellow villagers on an adventure through the heart of the Amazon as they unite to protect their land and future.

Before moving to Adelaide, Fontainha helped choreograph ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, the Rio 2016 Olympics and the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Tickets for all shows can be purchased via the Adelaide Fringe.

Originally published as The rising SA stars of the Adelaide Fringe to watch in 2025