Oily Rag Theatre

Following our previous sell-out walking tours through Kensington ("Intriguing from go to woe" Adelaide Now) and Bowden ("a twist on the usual historical exploration" The Adelaide Show), join us this year for a walk through historic Parkside with not one ghost host, but two! Learn about some of Parkside's darker past, including police chases, shootings, the Parkside Asylum, and a tragedy and scandal that feels all too resonant today, in this must-see for history lovers. Written and researched by Shannon Norfolk.  Written and researched by Shannon Norfolk. Performed by Shannon Norfolk and Heather Crawford. Performance dates: 21, 23, 26, 28 February and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 March 2023.  More photos can be viewed on our Facebook page. 

Following our sell-out season of "Kreepy Kensington" in the 2019 Fringe ("Intriguing from go to woe" Adelaide Now, "a brilliant idea and a hit before it opened" Barefoot Review), this year we present a walking tour through another historical Adelaide suburb. Your guide this year is Beatrice, the shade of a factory worker from the early twentieth century. She will take you on a journey through the darker side of the history of Bowden starting from its early days as a village of industry and factories. Stories of jealous lovers, murder, suicide, the fight for workers rights and more will be revealed in this must-see for history lovers. Written and performed by Shannon Norfolk.  Audience limited to 20 for all performances.  Bookings via  Fringetix .  Tickets: $20.00  Duration: 70 minutes Dates and times: 7.30 p.m. start on 18, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27 February 7 p.m. start on 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 March.  Starting point: Outside 140 Drayton Street, Bowd

Our second production for 2019 was Claire Kiechel's Pilgrims , our first show at the Bakehouse Theatre. PILGRIMS by Claire Kiechel 1-10 August 2019 at the Bakehouse Theatre CAST: Shannon Gray - The Girl Jabez Retallick - The Soldier Kyla Booth - Jasmine CREW: Director (and lighting/sound operator) - Kristin Telfer Production designer: Shannon Norfolk Lighting designer: Katherine Kleemann SYNOPSIS The play takes place on board the Destiny, a starship transporting hundreds of migrants from Earth to their new home in a colony far beyond. Two solo passengers, an ex-soldier and a young woman, are assigned to the same cabin. The cabin steward, an AI called Jasmine, is regretful for this mistake and promises everything will be sorted out. It soon turns out however that the two passengers will have to bunk together for the duration of the journey, and be confined to their cabin due to a vaguely described “quarantine”. With only each other (and Jasmine when she visits) for

Tickets for our next production, Pilgrims  by Claire Kiechel, are now on sale via the Bakehouse Theatre website. Click here to book! See our Current Production page for production information and updates.

Thank you to everyone who came along to the sell-out season of Kreepy Kensington . We have been asked whether we will do a public season of the walk outside of the Fringe later this year. We do not have any plans for this currently, but will be sure to post here and on Facebook if we do. If you would like us to do the walk as a private once-off for a group this may be possible, please get in touch to discuss at oilyragtheatre @ gmail.com. We are now taking a short break before rehearsals for our next production, Pilgrims , will get underway in May.

Our first production for 2019 was "Kreepy Kensington", a historical walking tour written and designed by Oily Rag Theatre co-runner Shannon Norfolk. We had a sell-out season, information on the production is below.  Sex. Death. Crime. Entrepreneurs, murderers, showmen, sex workers and more will have their stories told on an evening walking tour through the suburb of Kensington by your host, a mysterious woman who last walked these streets over a hundred years ago. Even the most genteel suburbs have a dark story or two to tell... February: 16, 17, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27 at 7.30 p.m. March: 1, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14 at 7 p.m. All tickets are $20.00 with a discount for groups of six or more. The walk starts Mary Mackillop Park, off Phillips Street, Kensington, and lasts for approximately 75 minutes. As this is a walking tour rather than a conventional show, the audience is limited to 20 per performance to maximise everyone's comfort and enjoyment of the experience