Adelaide to Hollywood via Edinburgh in a day: Fringe theatre goes global

A new digital theatre platform developed to keep audiences engaged during lockdown is being used by performers to take their shows to festivals far from home, and even to two events at once.

Black Box Live, set up by Adelaide-based performer Joanne Hartstone and her partner, won accolades when it live-streamed shows around the world from the Adelaide Fringe earlier this year, which went ahead despite the pandemic, though with COVID measures in place. Now Hartstone is using the platform to take her show to not one, but two major fringe festivals abroad that this year are happening at the same time, without ever leaving Australia.