East Gippsland theatre lovers are in for a treat, with three standout productions from this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival set to tour the region thanks to East Gippsland Shire's Performing Arts Centre, The Forge Theatre.  

The award-winning shows – An Evening Without Kate Bush, Garry Starr: Greece Lightning, and NIUSIA – will take to stages in Bairnsdale, Bruthen, Buchan, across April and May.

Each year, The Forge Theatre’s programming team travels to the Adelaide Fringe – the second largest annual arts festival in the world and the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest – to handpick the most exciting, original, and meaningful performances to share with local audiences here in East Gippsland.  

This year, the team from The Forge Theatre selected three standout acts and all three went on to win major awards at the 2025 Adelaide Fringe, a remarkable endorsement of the team’s talent for spotting exceptional shows that connect with audiences. From high-energy comedy to poignant storytelling and genre-bending cabaret, the program offers something for everyone.

A celebration of Kate Bush, identity, and the power of performance, the critically acclaimed An Evening Without Kate Bush brings UK performer Sarah-Louise Young to East Gippsland stages in a spellbinding tribute to one of music’s most unique voices. Winner of Best Cabaret at the 2025 Adelaide Fringe out of hundreds of shows, the show is a joyful, moving exploration of fandom, creativity, and feminine power.

In addition to performance at The Forge Theatre, the Bruthen community is preparing a special surprise for the show's local audience – details are under wraps, but it promises to be something memorable.

Event details for An Evening Without Kate Bush:

Thursday 24 April, 7.30 pm – The Forge Theatre

Friday 25 April, 7.30 pm – Bruthen Mechanics Hall

Tickets: $45 Adult | $42 Concession

Winner of multiple international comedy awards, Garry Starr is the alter ego of performer Damien Warren-Smith. In Greece Lightning, Starr takes audiences on a madcap journey through Greek mythology. With his signature mix of physical theatre, clowning, and satire, this riotously funny one-man show is a crowd-pleaser that cleverly blends chaos and culture – perfect for lovers of irreverent comedy. This year Garry won the prestigious Adelaide Fringe Best Comedy for his show Classic Penguins.  

Event details for Garry Starr: Greece Lightning:

Friday 23 May, 7.30 pm – The Forge Theatre

Tickets: $45 Adult | $42 Concession

NIUSIA, winner of the Cultural Diversity Award at Adelaide Fringe 2025, is a deeply personal story of memory, silence and discovery.

Niusia was a Holocaust survivor. Her granddaughter Beth remembers only an angry, dying woman. Now, Beth is ready to uncover her grandmother’s past – but what she finds are all the questions she was never allowed to ask.

Through NIUSIA, Beth weaves together memories, handed-down stories, and interviews to examine the precarity of identity, and the haphazard cultural legacy second, third, and fourth generation immigrants are handed. 

NIUSIA explores what happens when the pursuit of belonging leads to quiet assimilation after surviving war and devastation. At its heart, it asks: "What does remembrance look like when all I remember is the space where questions should go?”

*This project is coordinated by East Gippsland Shire Council, funded by the Victorian Government through Emergency Recovery Victoria’s Local Government Bushfire Recovery Funding in response to the 2019-2020 Eastern Victorian Bushfires.

Event details for NIUSIA:

Wednesday 7 May, 2.30 pm – Bruthen Mechanics Institute Hall

Thursday 8 May, 2.30 pm – Buchan Mechanics Hall

Saturday 10 May, 7.30 pm – Nagle College

Tickets: Free (bookings essential

With a combination of international acclaim, local engagement, and a diverse mix of performance styles, The Forge Theatre’s 2025 program offers audiences a rare opportunity to experience the best of the Adelaide Fringe without leaving East Gippsland.

For more information and to book tickets, visit:

www.eastgippsland.vic.gov.au/theforge

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