Hannah Maxwell Brings Two Shows To Adelaide Fringe 2026

Inspired by performer Hannah Maxwell's quest for commercial success after a hit debut, and a follow-up seen by just two people including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, BABYFLEAREINDEERBAG is part one woman show, stand-up and focus group. Blending storytelling, comedy and live audience participation, it explores how contemporary theatre is developed, marketed and consumed. Using meta-theatrical framing, audiences are invited to evaluate three half-baked, humorous and heartfelt solo-show concepts tackling family, relationships and the current socio-political climate that critique today's demand for confessional, viral-ready and screen-adaptable narratives. Fresh from an acclaimed sell-out run at Edinburgh Fringe 2025, the show arrives at Adelaide Fringe as a timely reflection on the commercial and creative pressures shaping autobiographical performance.

Hannah will also be bringing back their debut show I, AmDram, to the Adelaide Fringe at Holden Street Theatres (19 Feb - 22 March) after acclaimed runs in both 2020 & 2025, winning a Weekly Best of Theatre Award. Exploring queer identity and growing up amongst amateur musical theatre, this solo storytelling show blends comedy, music, and personal anecdotes to look at community, creativity and finding your place on and off the stage.

Writer and performer Hannah Maxwell said, "This is an experiment. The idea of me moderating focus groups about my own work is very silly but I'm genuinely curious how audiences will participate and what they'll have to say about excerpts of shows that don't exist. For most of the past year, I've been stuck between three ideas for autobiographical storytelling shows, which I think of like episodes of Friends: The One About My Dad, The One About Heartbreak, and The One About The End of the World. I've felt pressure to choose a direction, build on the momentum from my last show, and make something that's marketable, tourable, and fundable - something that might appeal to funders like Arts Council England, the BBC, or even Netflix. The theatre world is tough right now, with cost-of-living and post-pandemic challenges. At 32, I can't just make things for the sake of making them. What fascinates me is the tension between being honest and raw onstage and being strategic offstage, trying to hold both impulses at once."

Hannah Maxwell (she/they) is a writer, performer and theatremaker whose autobiographical storytelling - blending theatre, performance art, stand-up, spoken word and musicals - is known for being playful, hyperspecific and idiosyncratic: layered without being impenetrable, attentive to the everyday, and nonchalantly queer.. Their debut show I, AmDram premiered at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019 and has been performed over 150 times in the UK and internationally. The follow-up Nan, Me & Barbara Pravi premiered at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023 and won the Summerhall Lustrum Award and was longlisted for the BBC Writersroom Popcorn Award and has since toured the UK and Australia. BABYFLEAREINDEERBAG is their latest work and sold out at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 sparking national discussion about the state of the theatre sector, and Their playtexts have been published by Polari Press and Bloomsbury.

BABYFLEAREINDEERBAG

The Hetzel Room The Courtyard of Curiosities at the State Library, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia

28 February - 1 March, 14 - 15 March 2026, 4:30pm | 3 - 8 March, 6:00pm

$30 ($26), Group $27

I, AmDram

The Barbara Hardy Garden at Holden Street Theatres, 32-34 Holden Street, Hindmarsh, Kaurna Country

19 - 22 Feb, 17 - 22 March, 6pm | 24 Feb - 1 March, 8pm