ALONE at Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2025

ALONE is back! 

After a month long season at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2023, ALONE is back on Assembly. This time we have partnered with Alchemy Theatre to create a new European team who can tour the production around Europe!

Director and writer Luke Thornborough is heading over for three weeks to rehearse the show and hand over the show to the new team! This is an exciting new chapter for ALONE - help us take this show to the next level!

Luke Thornborough is writer and director, currently living off-grid on Aotea (Great Barrier Island) and working for the Department of Conservation. 

With a career spanning theatre, film, and documentary, he combines his creative talents with a commitment to meaningful change, using stories to connect people with one another and to the natural world. In documentary filmmaking, Luke has tackled pressing social and environmental issues. His work with the Ministry of Social Development encouraged men to embrace positive masculinity, while his collaboration with the University of Auckland explored the health of New Zealand’s soils. In the commercial realm, he has directed and edited hundreds of hours of content for leading New Zealand brands, including Air New Zealand, Moana Fisheries, Zespri, Fonterra, Silver Fern Farms, BNZ, NZ Steel and the Department of Conservation, blending storytelling with environmental advocacy.

A multi-award-winning playwright, Luke is best known for ALONE, a play he wrote and directed. Praised for its authenticity and emotional depth, the production has toured internationally for over five years, earning critical acclaim and resonating deeply with audiences. His short films have also received international recognition, with his film Stay screening in competition at the Giffoni Film Festival as well as playing at the New Zealand International Film Festival. He has also directed music videos for top New Zealand artists (Titanium, Danelle and Ryan Enzed). 

Luke's work reflects a belief in the power of stories to inspire change, weaving together themes of human connection, resilience, and environmentalism. Whether on stage, on screen, or in his off-grid life, Luke has a passion for inspiring others to care for both the planet and for each other.

We are raising money for food, accomodation and travel costs for Luke Thornborough to head to Edinburgh for three weeks.

KIWI SCI-FI HIT CRASH LANDS IN EDINBURGH (AGAIN)! 

The multi award-winning drama, ALONE, is set to perform for a month long season on one of the best stages at the world’s largest arts festival… but we need your help! 

Thanks to Boosted our 2023 season managed to raise enough money to get our incredible team onto the international stage! Now we have teamed up with a European production company to take this show to the next level!

To set up the European company we need to get writer, director Luke Thornborough over to Edinburgh fringe festival so that he can direct the new cast and crew and set them up to successfully tour Europe. ALONE began with the award-winning season at Auckland Fringe Festival 2020 and the critically acclaimed seasons in Wellington, Sydney, Whangarei, New Plymouth, Palmerston North and Q Loft – we have now once again partnered with Assembly to present our show at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. ALONE is a tense Sci-fi drama about feminism, climate change and David Bowie, set on a spaceship returning home to earth, the two women crew must battle with their deteriorating ship and with each other if they are to bring a life saving plant back to earth. It is about women being silenced in the scientific field and is sadly more relevant than ever. The 60 minute show is as an edge of your seat, immersive experience that regularly leaves audiences speechless. 

HOW YOU CAN HELP 

We have been incredibly grateful to all the support we have had over the last five years, from all the kind words people have written about our show, through to the awards we have received from Auckland Fringe and the New Zealand Fringe Festival. We are also incredibly grateful to all of the amazing people who helped fund our North Island Tour in 2021 and our Tour to Edinburgh in 2023 – without your kind support we couldn’t have taken this show onto the international stage!

Help us make it happen!

The team are passionate about the story's messages of climate change, feminism and listening to women's voices in scientific fields. 

In the current political climate we believe these stories are more important than ever. Our focus is to uplift the voices of women in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) and Climate action.