Set to stun _{by Madelaine Empson}

“A wonderful coincidence of timing and events” inspired Rachel Winter Hase to write The Fabulous Fabelinskys, a comedy-drama featuring breathtaking circus acts.

Set in a travelling circus in the 1890s and starring Rachel, 2022’s Best in Fringe, alongside hula-hoop extraordinaire Laura Oakley and Billy T 2025 nominee Booth the Clown, the show follows family circus act The Fabelinskys. Papa and Mama and their two adult daughters have always pretended to be Russian, except Papa has just died, leaving the three women to negotiate not only who they can be, but how they can survive, without him.

Rachel, who had been working with Laura since 2023, resonated with the concept of a show based on the fallout from the death of a circus patriarch and was able to make it a reality under expert guidance during Gary Henderson’s Writing For Theatre paper at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington.

“I used to have a duo circus act with my ex-husband and after we split I definitely had some issues trying to refind my identity without him, so I think The Fabulous Fabelinskys connects very much to that too.”

Directed by Jen McArthur and featuring original music played live by renowned aerialist and circus performer Jackson Cordery, the show is set to stun from the 19^th to the 22^nd of February this New Zealand Fringe Festival.

“It is a beautiful fusion of family drama with spectacular circus acts and I think people are going to fall in love with it!”