Show reviewed: 09/03/26

Show rating: Take my money, 5 stars!

Hello fellow sinners, libertines and perverts, Sinners Cabaret is a naughty (and oh so nice!) cabaret show presented by Hell in Heels dedicated to the glories of the adult entertainment industry. It’s just an average day at the office for a certain madam and her two rambunctious clients who want 3 girls, red leather and fire (promises, promises …)

This XXX cabaret show’s cast proudly features sex workers from Western Australia and South Australia, performing at the Adelaide Fringe Festival after a sell out tour in New Zealand. It is a very sex positive experience and isn’t a show for the prudish, as it is a little more erotically risqué than the tits and ass expectations of burlesque, but not quite the full nudity of stripping.

It was a visual feast that showcased the artistry and creativity that goes into creating a piece of adult entertainment and these ladies served it hotter than hell. Purely from that stand point of a reviewer and performer myself, the acts were as varied as dance, drag, burlesque, aerial, pole & fire with each artist at the top of her game and sexy AF.

They put the pro in professional – these creatives are elite athletes who have put a lot of time, training, technique and artistry into honing their craft and still making it look sex & fun at the same time. These women own their power and are fearless in embracing it, they are there of their own free will and not being exploited, a point the show is clearly making. These artists CHOOSE to be there and perform.

Each of the acts focussed on different aspects of the adult entertainment industry from peep shows through to lap dances…the show poked fun at the idea of being set in a strip club, with costumes and music with the dingy lighting creating a seedy, fevered vibe and there was a fun premise of “tipping dollars” that the audience could purchase and tip their favourite performers, with 100% of the proceeds going to the performers. This I can get behind!

They call sex work the world’s oldest profession and now that the Australian government has blocked off access to internet porn sites in an effort to “save the children”, I guess society is going to have to find its fix for adult entertainment else where. I believe that sex work is legitimate work and that sex workers deserve the same safety, legal protections, and rights as any other profession, trade, or occupation or industry.

This is not the place to debate that controversy with me because I will defend the right of people to earn a fair wage for fair work no matter what they are employed in. The thought and care that goes into providing these adult services is no different from almost any other job in the arts and entertainment industry. In South Australia, sex work (prostitution) is largely unlawful, criminalised and it’s illegal to live off the earnings of sex work here. Yet a celebration of sex work by sex workers is happening at Adelaide’s biggest art festival, raising the question does this show belong at the Adelaide Fringe Festival? I think the answer is a resounding yes, when it comes to Sinners Cabaret. 

It really becomes a question of government censorship and it be can reframed as the question of children’s shows belong at fringe festivals, if we are going to start telling consenting, legal adults what is acceptable and not acceptable for them to consume and participate in as part of their leisure activities. Should we be censoring the arts and entertainment industry at all given I have reviewed a show dedicated to stalking and another about an unqualified agony aunt? As long as there is an audience and a demand for these shows, I think that ethical options where like Sinners Cabaret are the best alternative where the performers are compensated and there by choice.

Season is closed for 2026.