Series
Melbourne Fringe Festival 2025
This year’s festival has kicked off, with over 500 shows set to take place. Here, our writers take a closer look.
It’s the final weekend of Fringe. Here’s what not to miss
From a show where an audience member is given a tattoo, to the search for a sperm donor, here are our latest Fringe reviews.
- Cameron Woodhead, Guy Webster, John Bailey, Lefa Singleton Norton, Nell Geraets, Sonia Nair, Tyson Wray, Vyshnavee Wijekumar and Will Cox
The best – and the riskiest – of the first half of Fringe
From weather apps and controlled chaos, to artists baring all, here are our latest reviews of the Fringe.
- Andrew Fuhrmann, Cameron Woodhead, Donna Demaio, Guy Webster, John Bailey, Nell Geraets, Sonia Nair, Tyson Wray, Vyshnavee Wijekumar and Will Cox
Wait, why are there people dancing in Fed Square?
A colourful dance floor has been set up in Fed Square – and the more people that move across it, the more it lights up – and the more energy it generates.
- Elizabeth Flux
This couple is seeking a sperm donor. They turned their search into a show
We’ve all heard stories about turkey basters, but this show shines a light on an alternative, ahem, route to making babies.
- Kerrie O'Brien
They wanted a new kind of musical. Its success had nothing to do with luck
Vidya Makan and Sonya Suares struggled to find a place on Australian stages. So they made their own.
- John Bailey
How a tragic death inspired a wild and strange comedy show
Rebecca Biscuit and Louise Mothersole, from the acclaimed Sh!t Theatre, have a “playful and starkly profound” show headed for Sydney and Melbourne Fringe festivals.
- Garry Maddox
‘Her work is not forgotten’: The new production celebrating a late local legend
Tanja Liedtke’s was a rising star, but her 2007 death left enduring ripples through the dance world. A new work responds to her legacy, bringing together past and present.
- Will Cox
These shows do away with the actors. Are you ready to play your part?
If the thought of stepping on stage makes you cringe, this year’s Fringe will make you think again.
- John Bailey
‘It was funny to be so... woke and be a supposed Nazi’: Tom Ballard
The comedian and TV presenter’s new play calls into question the very nature of comedy.
- John Bailey
Other series
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2026
This year’s laugh fest has kicked off, with more than 2000 performers stepping up to the mic. Here, our writers take a closer look
- 9 stories
Hate of origin: Inside football’s most intense rivalry
Essendon and Hawthorn have hated each other for more than 40 years, from some old-fashioned thuggery and a fake drug scandal in the mid-80s to last year’s failed bid by the Hawks to poach the Bombers’ captain.
- 5 stories