ONLY BONES Comes to Adelaide Fringe 2026

What happens when live performance is stripped back to its barest essentials, to a more fundamental, elemental form? With only one performer, one light, no words, no set, no props, all performed within 1m², Only Bones – Daniel Nodder pushes the boundaries of traditional theatre, creating an incredible experiment in minimalism and creativity.

Created in Aotearoa / New Zealand, this multi-award-winning physical theatre production is heading across the ditch to the Adelaide Fringe Festival for the very first time in 2026. Created by a collective of Aotearoa's most exciting emerging artists, this innovative work has picked up awards across New Zealand, Australia and the USA since its premiere in 2023.

Only Bones – Daniel Nodder is the eleventh iteration of The Only Bones Project. Created by award-winning physical and circus performer, Thom Monckton (The Artist, The King of Taking), The Only Bones Project is designed to challenge and celebrate physical performers. Each artist is invited to create a show under minimalist restrictions, pushing creativity and forcing them to think outside the box.

“We have such a wealth of talented physical performers in this world and I wanted to create something that celebrates the weird, wacky and wonderful things they can do,” Monckton says. 

“The restrictions are a key part of that. It means that the performers can't rely on a big set or fancy tech, all they have is their body and their creativity.”

“I saw Thom perform the original Only Bones back in 2018, which was the catalyst for The Only Bones Project, and it changed my life,” Nodder says.  “To be invited by Thom to make an Only Bones of my own, and to put my own skills to the test is a pretty amazing experience.”

This physical performance masterpiece is completely devoid of any spoken words but is riddled with exceptionally challenging feats of dance and physical theatre. Featuring a single hanging lightbulb, a small circle on the floor and a mesmerising original score, École Philippe Gaulier alum Nodder dances, clowns, and bends in ways you never thought possible. With ingenious use of gesture and movement, this work tells the story of the universe's creation from the Big Bang to the death of the dinosaurs to the eventual entropic heat-death of all things.