Adelaide Fringe. The Gallery at The Courtyard of Curiosities. 18 Mar 2026
At some point, everyone questions the trajectory of their life—what they are doing, where they are going, and whether it is right for them. For some, this reckoning is prompted by significant events; for others, it emerges more quietly as part of an evolving life story.
Eden follows Dan and Kit, two young people on the cusp of adulthood. They live in a small rural town where, almost by definition, opportunities and diversions are limited. A visit to the local pizza shop is a social highlight, and a trip to the nearby river the closest thing to adventure. It all feels familiar—almost mundane—until it is not.
Written with sensitivity by Australian theatre maker Kate Gaul and thoughtfully realised by the Sydney-based Siren Theatre Co, Eden explores the rites of passage that shape young lives while also illuminating the stark contrasts between rural and urban existence. Its concerns are both particular and universal.
Lara Lightfoot and Karinne Kanaan take on the roles of Dan and Kit, while also embodying a host of other characters—parents, friends, and townsfolk. Lightfoot, who assumes several male roles, performs in overalls, while Kanaan appears in a flouncy dress. This gender fluidity never jars; rather, it underscores the performers’ precision and control. Their characterisations are sharply observed, transitions seamless, and their stagecraft compelling throughout. Diction is crisp, energy sustained, and the emotional range impressive. Whether portraying carefree adolescents, weary adults, or more ominous figures, they draw the audience fully into the world of the play. Their rapid shifts between roles are handled with such clarity that one is never in doubt—though keeping pace is exhilarating, and at times almost exhausting.
The production unfolds in an intimate transverse space, with the audience seated on two sides. The staging is spare: two movable benches suffice. This simplicity serves the work well, allowing the narrative to flow unimpeded. Subtle lighting and an evocative original soundscape—suggestive of the Australian bush and the emotional undercurrents of the story—provide effective support without distraction. Gaul’s direction is incisive.
Central to the play is the river, a presence that shapes both the physical and emotional landscape of the town. It is at once a place of beauty and a site of potential danger. In this context, the customary ‘Welcome to Country’ that precedes Festival performances resonates with particular poignancy. Just as Country holds deep spiritual meaning for Aboriginal peoples, the river assumes an almost mythic significance for the characters. Gaul’s lyrical script imbues it with a near-human presence—an omnipresent force embodying risk, isolation, the unknown, and the longing to escape.
This is an absorbing and finely crafted theatrical experience: the narrative is engaging, the themes quietly resonant, and the performances of a high calibre. It is superb storytelling that trusts its text and performers.
Kym Clayton
When: 17 to 22 Mar
Where: Courtyard of Curiosities, The Gallery
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
SECOND REVIEW
Eden
★★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Siren Theatre Co. Courtyard of Curiosities, The Gallery. 18 Mar 2026
Not your average young kids escape the bush tale.
Eden is a remarkably taught, rich work. Filled with depth in writing and performance exploring darkness and lightened hope, delivered in a mere 45 minutes and staying with you post show.
Two benches. Two actors. Traverse setting, LED spot array lighting, and perfect backgrounding score. Basic as you can get. The outcome that’s based on is extraordinary.
Playwright/Director Kate Gaul offers a text of deep connection with the Tasmanian landscape of the town her teenage girl characters Kit (Karrine Kanaan) and Dan (Lara Lightfoot) live. Gaul evokes a history—pre-town to existing town—that’s easy, natural, positive. Her cast deliver it with a warmth and joy you feel safely engaged with. Nature is the place Kit and Dan live and celebrate their happy/sad youthfulness.
These actors give such rich life to the history Gaul creates, you are immediately drawn in. To them. Magnetic, powerful, free young women with things to say. Attitude to live it, in spite of everything. Perhaps not quite. As their tale unfolds.
In the midst of all this is the river. The river is everything. The river that’s always moving. An essence of power to be wary of.
Yet it’s definitely a small town with small town issues of the not so good kind. Gaul has those down too. Every facet, every character in, and of, a small town played with insightful gusto by Kanaan and Lightfoot.
What makes this work of two young girls dealing with fractured family lives and discovering each other’s love so powerful is Gaul’s ability to weave a tale in which what is unsaid, is said in oblique ways.
The discovery of a woman’s body in the river is never explained. Speculated on. This is a town girls should not walk at night on their own. Is this death misadventure or something more sinister? Is it a message? A judgement?
Kit and Dan live and breathe this danger, even as they run close to it. This town has rules. A hierarchy. A death grip. Kit’s mother will not abandon it. It is all she has. Kit and Dan know their budding relationship endangers them.
Eden is about choosing, despite the weight of oppressive forces denying choice at every turn; the street, the school, the powerful but ignorant, poverty.
David O’Brien
When: 17 to 22 Mar
Where: Courtyard of Curiosities, The Gallery
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
