Show reviewed: 15/03/26

Show rated: A roaring 4.5 stars

Primal falls into the very popular “sexy circus” genre at the Adelaide Fringe Festival that seems to be doing very well in 2026. What sets Primal apart is that it holds a mirror from the weird and wonderful of the human world to that of animal kingdom. What can we learn about our creativity, the complexities and the challenges of human relationships and behaviour reflected back at us in the primal energy of nonhuman creatures? Who are we when we are not constrained by human ideas of identity, sexuality, and perception? Are we man or beast? Creature, creature or divine creation?

The creative genius behind this show is the same team that previously produced success hit, Rouge. Primal takes the same irreverent, captivating multidimensional approach to physical theatre and circus with an astonishing mix of aerial artistry, fire performances, burlesque, and song. This is a show that demands tremendous physicality from its performers and incredibly entertaining as it moves from cheeky acts and silliness, to sublime beauty of the drag operatic chanteuse and the gravity defying acrobatics. There were moments of playfulness, acts of pleasure and gestures of tenderness and times that required extreme trust between the performers.

In Primal, the artists reveal that each of us is beautiful in our uniqueness and worthy of being loving and being loved as what defines as that each of us is human. This production makes a point of positive representation and that what makes us human is our connections to each other; no matter your gender, body type or relationship status, we exist in relation to one another and that proximity is creates the human experience.