Send a text

Fringe season is almost underway and so are the big cultural questions.

In this pre-Fringe edition of The Arts Garden Podcast, James and Bronwin speak with artists confronting politics, identity, mental health and community in 2026.

🎭 Martha Lott (Holden Street Theatres) on The Debate, class satire in Eat the Rich, and why this year’s Fringe is bold, political and provocative.

📷 Alex Frayne (Adelaide Festival) on photographing America as an empire in slow decline; a three-month road trip from Los Angeles to New Orleans, shot on analogue film and transformed into an immersive LED exhibition.

🎤 Gillian Cosgriff on existential crisis, audience advice, and why humans still beat AI when it comes to wisdom.

🧠 Holly "Cookie" Baker & Travis Dempsey on creatives and wellbeing: burnout, comparison culture, gig economy pressure and redefining success in the arts.

🔥 Uncle Moogy Sumner on the Dupang Festival at the Coorong: cultural healing, land connection and rebuilding community through dance and story.

From Fringe theatre to empire decline.

From Harvard ambitions to Murray Mouth ceremony

From artistic burnout to collective renewal.

If you care about art, politics, creativity and staying sane in chaotic times, this one’s for you.

Support the show

Send a text

Fringe is almost here and Episode Four of The Arts Garden dives straight into the heart of it.

We begin in the gardens with Sacred Resonance, exploring illuminated landscapes, heart-coherence installations and immersive sound baths that blur the lines between nature, frequency and connection.

Then it’s dance, collaboration and creative risk with Alex Kuijpers, bringing three distinct works to Adelaide Fringe from cosmic queer horror in Astral Ghost Orchid to the improvised energy of It’s Alive and the next-gen choreographers of New Romantics.

From Belfast at 7am, Raymond Walsh of The Shamrocks joins us ahead of their month-long Adelaide Fringe run: five voices, Irish harmony, and a message of unity shaped by Northern Ireland’s history and resilience.

We also speak with Dr. Mark Rogers (re:group) about POV, an innovative Adelaide Festival work blending live filmmaking and theatre in an unrehearsed exploration of parenting, mental health and separation.

And finally, UK performer Hannah Maxwell reflects on autobiographical theatre, vulnerability in the age of Baby Reindeer, and bringing I Am Dram and BabyFleaReindeerBag to Fringe.

This episode moves from cosmic frequencies to community theatre, from improvised dance to unrehearsed drama; a reminder that art, in all its forms, is about connection.

🌿 Adelaide Fringe.
🎭 Adelaide Festival.
🎶 Stories, spectacle and sincerity.

New episode out now.

Support the show

Send us a text

This episode of Arts Garden dives head-first into Adelaide Fringe season, with conversations spanning grief, circus, comedy, and the realities of making creative work sustainable.

We’re joined first by Melissa and Connor from CRAM Collective, who introduce their new Fringe work Meteors. Developed through a residency at The Mill, the show explores how young people experience grief; the silences around it, the awkward kindness of casseroles and lasagnes, and the long journey that begins after the funeral. Drawing on lived experience, Meteors makes space for grief that is tender, funny, unresolved, and deeply human. The conversation touches on ritual, memory, care, and why grief doesn’t disappear; it changes shape.

We also hear from Eva Seymour, Melbourne actor and writer, bringing her acclaimed solo show The Understudy to Adelaide Fringe. Eva reflects on the strange psychological territory of being perpetually “almost on stage”: the tension between gratitude and frustration, waiting and ambition, and what happens when an artist puts their life on hold for something outside their control. The discussion moves through acting, writing, theatre versus screen, and the freedom (and terror) of making solo work.

Later in the episode, we speak with the full lineup behind The Diversity Quota, a sharp, self-aware stand-up showcase interrogating representation, identity, and workplace culture. The comedians discuss how the show came together, why comedy is uniquely suited to tackling taboo topics, and how leaning into awkwardness can create something generous rather than tokenistic.

Finally, the episode features a conversation with Lachlan Binns from Gravity & Other Myths, reflecting on growing up in circus, touring internationally, and presenting two Fringe shows this year: The Mirror and Ten Thousand Hours. Lachlan talks about mastery, repetition, technology, play, and why the process behind a spectacular moment can be more interesting than the moment itself.

Across the episode, Arts Garden explores:

• how artists sit with grief and uncertainty
• why Fringe matters for new and risky work
• the labour behind creative excellence
• and what it means to keep choosing art in difficult conditions

Guests:
CRAM Collective (Melissa & Connor) · Eva Seymour · The Diversity Quota · Lachlan Binns (Gravity & Other Myths)

Recorded on: Arts Garden, 3D Radio 93.7FM

Support the show