House Of Oz is championing Australian voices at the Edinburgh Fringe
We take a look at two of their eight productions coming to this year’s festival
Theatre Republic's How Not To Make It In America (pictured above) begins with a familiar dream. Matt, a young Australian actor, arrives in New York in 2001 convinced that success is just around the corner. Three weeks later, the September 11 attacks transform not only the city but the trajectory of his life. Instead of Broadway, he finds himself working illegally in a video store, surrounded by an eclectic cast of New Yorkers who gradually redefine what ambition, belonging and home really mean.
Written by Emily Steel and performed by James Smith, the show features one actor inhabiting all 28 characters. Drawing on Steel's own experiences of arriving in New York shortly before 9/11, it focuses on the quieter human consequences of that infamous day: how history interrupts ordinary lives and how unexpected communities emerge from uncertainty.
While How Not To Make It In America uses storytelling to explore lives reshaped by history, Glass Child tells an equally personal tale through movement. Created by acclaimed physical theatre company The Farm, the production centres on siblings Kayah and Maitreyah Guenther, who perform their own relationship on stage. Kayah has Down syndrome but that isn’t the focus of the story; rather, it explores the lifelong bond between brother and sister through dance, revealing an emotional vocabulary that exists beyond spoken language.
For co-creator Gavin Webber, movement became the natural medium because words could never fully express what the siblings already communicate instinctively. After more than a decade working alongside the family, The Farm has created a piece built on trust, presence and connection. It marks both the company's Edinburgh Fringe debut and the first international performance for Kayah and Maitreyah, who hope audiences will leave with a renewed appreciation for empathy and human connection.
Both shows reflect the growing confidence of contemporary Australian theatre. Whether exploring the aftermath of one of history's defining moments or celebrating the extraordinary bond between siblings, these performances remind Fringe audiences that the most memorable theatre often begins with individual experience and expands into something universally human.
How Not To Make It In America, Summerhall, 6–31 August, 9.20pm; Glass Child, Summerhall, 6–16 August, 1.30pm.