We hoped the days of distanced Fringing might've been behind us. Alas, Omicron had other plans. If you’re looking to get the most out of the Fringe from a safe remove, these are the shows to check out.

Sky Song

A collaboration between First Nations artists and UK-based drone art company Celestial, Sky Song is the centrepiece of this year’s Fringe. The artwork is shown outdoors at the Adelaide Showgrounds, offering a COVID-safe set up for audiences to experience one of the festival’s major highlights. Sky Song is narrated by singer, songwriter and activist Archie Roach as part of the moving soundtrack of First Nations song and poetry. Other artists and collaborators include Electric Fields, Iwiri Choir, Nancy Bates, Major Moogy Summer, Jack Buckskin, Ali Cobby Eckermann and Dusty Feet Mob.

18 February—20 March
Venue change: Richard Hamilton Wines, 439 Main Road, McLaren Vale 5171
Outdoor performance

Streaming Seamen! The Digital Sea Shanty Spectacular

After taking home two Melbourne Fringe Awards, including the SA Tour Ready Award, this fusion of seafaring classics and modern-day music hits virtual stages this Fringe. After sea shanties went viral on TikTok, this group of indie choir performers were inspired to infuse folk classics with a contemporary a cappella spin. Music direction and arrangements are by Alex Morris from the Shania Choir, a collective who received notable publicity for their telling of Shania Twain’s life story. Streaming Seamen! also features original remixes by Triple J Unearthed electronic-pop artist Will Hannagan (WILLING).

Available from 21 February
Watch from home

Asynchrony: An Interactive Minecraft Experience

After a successful season at the 2021 Edinburgh Fringe, Asynchrony will take Adelaide audiences on a virtual adventure. This interactive online event is a video game/theatre hybrid designed to give audiences “newfound levels of control and agency in theatrical experiences”. Participants will adventure through an abandoned Minecraft server 200 years in the future. The server is becoming increasingly unstable by the minute, and participants race against the clock to uncover the secrets of this derelict world before it’s destroyed. Actors and participants are voice-connected throughout the production. Instructions and a sample performance are available online.

2—19 March
On your computer

Prepping for Theatre

Prepping for Theatre is an on-demand production presented by the multi-talented Adelaide-based GP, composer and performer Dr Lane Hinchcliffe. This cabaret show challenges the usual tropes of doctors – boring, dry and clinical – as Dr Hinchcliffe offers up charm, humour and music to recount his journey from young boy struggling with anxiety to successful GP and musician. Dr Hinchcliffe is a classically trained pianist and vocalist and was also a writer and composer of The Front, a musical that premiered at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in 2015. All profits from this production will be donated to youth mental health.

Available from 18 February
On demand at Black Box Live

SAME-SAME 2.0

For SAME-SAME 2.0, Adelaide’s No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability teamed up with Theatre Today and Diverse Abilities Dance Collectives, two performance companies based in Singapore. Described as “life affirming”, the work is a dance and theatre production celebrating friendships across countries, cultures and abilities. As an ensemble-devised show, SAME-SAME 2.0 reflects the experiences of performers with a disability throughout the pandemic, in both Australia and Singapore. Audiences are invited to engage from the comfort of their homes, and discover what connects us, what divides us, and how the arts can bring us together.

5 & 12 March
Watch from home