Arts and Culture

Four kinds of Fringe shows you should see this year

Chelsea Hayes 20 Jan '224 min read

Fringe World

The FRINGE WORLD Festival is back to brighten up your summer in Perth with nearly endless entertainment options. There are literally hundreds of shows and thousands of sessions, which can make choosing what to see a real challenge! So we’ve put together this guide to help you get a taste of what Fringe has to offer in 2022.

Move and groove with a Fringe music show

There’s a huge variety of music genres on the Fringe program. Get nostalgic with Chart Toppers: Hits Through the Decades, dance the night away to high-energy Latin rhythms at Havana Nights - Cuban Young Guns under the Stars featuring Adam Hall or be transported to Europe with gypsy jazz at Sassafras Swings.

You’ll also find tribute shows to all your favourite pop, rock, soul and jazz icons (from ABBA, Adele, Amy Winehouse, and Aretha Franklin through to Ziggy Stardust), as well as curious combinations that guarantee a unique experience. Dance music with a Bavarian brass band? You’ll find that at An 80s Dance Floor Oom-pah-ty. Old-school rock classics played by a head-banging 10-piece sax ensemble? Say hello to Sax Rockers: ON FIRE!

Or for an original, one-off performance where absolutely anything could happen, try Impromptunes - The Completely Improvised Musical.

Search all Music & Musicals at FRINGE WORLD.

Havana Nights

Be surprised with a Fringe cabaret show

Bring on the singing, dancing and banter - nothing says Fringe quite like a cabaret show.

For a PG-rated option, Illusions - a French Cabaret will feature classics from 1930s Parisian songstresses performed by a chanteuse and pianist.

After something bigger and bolder? The homegrown Perth Cabaret Collective - six-time FRINGE WORLD award-winners - are back with Spectacular, Spectacular!

At the ‘Very Hot’ end of the spectrum, Sideshow Femmes promises “tantalising tease and daring deeds” complete with knives and flames, while Club Briefs offers “high energy, flirty and fabulous boylesque”.

Search all Cabaret & Variety at FRINGE WORLD.

Clubs Briefs

Get a laugh with a Fringe comedy show

Big names like Rove McManus are gracing the Festival program along with dozens of fresh faces and established talents. Not sure who to see? Try a stand-up show like Best of Fest at the Comedy Lounge where there’s a rotating line-up of festival favourites, or gather a group to go on the Comedy Pub Crawl.

For something a bit different, 15-time Fringe Festival Award Winner Tim Motley returns as “Australia’s favourite American mentalist detective” in 2 Ruby Knockers, 1 Jaded Dick: A Dirk Darrow Investigation. Or perhaps Comedians VS Rappers, Bogan Shakespeare Presents: Julius Caesar, or the Harry Potter vs Lord of the Rings Comedy showdown will strike your fancy.

Search all Comedy at FRINGE WORLD.

Be awed with a Fringe circus show

Prepare to gasp as you watch fantastic physical feats or mesmerising magic.

Down Rebound is a PG option that brings important themes of wellbeing and connection into a contemporary circus show with acrobatics, aerial rope and juggling, while A Simple Space (which is suitable for all ages) will have you captivated by incredible acrobatics in an intimate setting.

The award-winning Rouge at The Rechabite promises circus as you’ve never seen it before - sensual and subversive - and the Bubble Show for Adults Only and Crème de la crème are some of the many other shows that bring a cheeky grown-up twist to the genre.

Search all Circus at FRINGE WORLD.