Only Bones @ Edinburgh Fringe 2026

Originally premiering during the New Zealand Fringe Festival in 2023 and having since toured extensively across Aotearoa, this multi-award-winning physical theatre production is heading halfway across the world to the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. 

We will be undertaking a huge 25 show season at Assembly Roxy in the heart of Edinburgh. Premiering this work at the largest fringe festival in the world will be the culmination of years worth of hard work and effort.

It’s no secret that funding the arts can be a rough ride, so we’re asking for support from whānau, friends, and community to help us showcase this small but mighty work, created by a collective of Aotearoa’s most exciting emerging artists. 

Daniel Nodder (they/he) - Performer & Creator

Dan is an award-winning physical performer, dancer and clown based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. After graduating from Te Herenga Waka / Victoria University in 2019, they have worked extensively in the local theatre scene as a performer and videographer, as well as touring their work internationally since 2023. They choreographed for Untitled Warehouse Project’s 2025 show Entry: Encounter (NZ Fringe 2025 Grand Design Award), and performed as headline talent for World of Wearable Art’s 2025 show RISE as the crowd-favourite street-sweeper clown. Dan recently returned from studying at world renowned (and feared) clown school École Philippe Gaulier in Étampes, France, and has been hard at work creating clown works CRUSH THE BUG (BATS Theatre 2025) and Spoon Show (NZ Fringe 2026).

Rebekah de Roo (she/her) - Technical Manager & Designer

Rebekah de Roo is a projection and production designer for live performances based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. She has a background in devising and studied performative design for her MFA at Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington. Rebekah has been nominated for Wellington Theatre Awards for Best Lighting Designer in 2023 and Most Promising Newcomer in 2022. Some of her recent credits include set and projection design for Untitled Warehouse Project’s Entry (NZ Fringe 2025 Grand Design Award); projection design for Prima Facie, Velocine, Wolf Run, ONO and Pinocchio: The Pantomime; production design for ratKing (NZ Fringe 2023 Grand Design Award);  and production design for Midnight Confessions. Rebekah has been nominated for Wellington Theatre Awards for Best Lighting Designer in 2023 and Most Promising Newcomer in 2022.

Jules McDonald (she/they) - Operator

Jules is a multi-disciplinary creative based in Te Whanganui-a-tara - where she is most frequently spotted lurking behind the curtain as a Stage Manager. Jules is a classically trained singer and actor, with over 10 years of performance experience. She has worked in costume, props, marketing, publicity, and stage management, while continuing to perform on stage. She has a true love of live theatre, and a strong appreciation for the many on and off stage components that make up a great show. Her previous credits include the award-winning Once Upon a Time in Homowood (NZ Fringe 2026), the multi Wellington Theatre Award winner Over and Out (BATS, 2025), multi-award nominees Hausdown (NZ Fringe 2025) and Death, Ray (NZ Fringe 2025), and Boys and Girls at the School Silent Disco (BATS, 2024).

Ben Kelly (he/him) - Sound Designer & Composer

Ben is a Wellington based composer and sound designer. He graduated from the New Zealand School of Music with a Bachelor of Music majoring in Jazz Performance in 2022, as well as a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Theatre. Ben’s work as a Musical Director / Sound Designer is heavily sought after within the Wellington Theatre scene. Ben has previously worked on the award winning Skin Tight (Circa Theatre 2022), as well as the double award winning How to Write an Album in 12 Hours (NZ Fringe 2018).
 

Thom Monckton (he/him) - Concept & Executive Producer

Thom Monckton is a circus artist from Taranaki, Aotearoa who has been loosely based in Europe for the past 15 years. He has produced a large amount of solo work including The Pianist (Edinburgh Fringe Award nominee 2014), Only Bones v1.0 (Edinburgh Fringe Award nominee 2016, NZ, Auckland, and Perth Fringes Award-winner, Tehran Theatre awards nominee), The Artist (Wellington Theatre Awards winner) and has directed or produced a number of currently active productions as well as teaching workshops and taking part in side projects like music videos, short films, and guest directing. In 2017 Thom was awarded a 5-year grant from the Finnish Arts Council Taike, and has been the co-Artistic Director for Kallo Collective since 2018.

We’re seeking your support to contribute towards the following costs for this wibbly wobbly work's Edinburgh debut:

• Flights to & Accommodation in Edinburgh for our 2-person team.
• Venue expenses for Assembly Roxy i.e., venue hire, marketing costs.

Any stretch goals reached will contribute towards additional marketing opportunities,  personnel per diems and replacing technical equipment.

With only one light, 1m² performance space and a jelly-like body, award-winning kiwi dancer-turned-clown Daniel Nodder creates an entire universe of ridiculous creatures, sounds and stories from almost nothing. Witness a nonverbal physical theatre odyssey through the cosmos - from the chaos of the Big Bang to the creation (and death) of the dinosaurs, a wibbly wobbly melting iceberg to a pair of singing kneecap divas. Mesmerising, intimate and absurd, this minimalist work bends minds, limbs and the laws of physics alike. A collision of clown, dance and innovative design, Only Bones – Daniel Nodder explores the endless storytelling capabilities of the human body.
 

“Daniel has invented a uniquely original form of theatre language.” ★ ★ ★ ★ ★  - The Clothesline, Adelaide 2026

“Part-surreal body sculpture, part-puppetry of body parts, and part embodied storytelling.” – Theatreview, Dunedin 2025 

“We often forget we are watching a man with four limbs and not an amorphous jellied creature from the deep.” – Bad Apple, Auckland 2024

“Nodder’s creativity knows no bounds.” – Art Murmurs, Wellington 2023 

The Only Bones Project

Created by Thom Monckton (The Pianist, The Artist, The King of Taking) in 2015, Only Bones Project is a minimalist physical theatre performance concept. Using uniform restrictive parameters solo performers create their own unique live shows with a similar aesthetic. With guidelines of "only one light, one performer, no narrative, no set, no props, no text, and all within 1m2", artists are then left much to their own devices to create their own world within a concept. These tight restrictions are designed to push each performer's skill and creativity to their limits and encourage them to not just think outside the box, but explore the space within it. Only Bones – Daniel Nodder is one of 11 iterations, each created by solo artists with distinct skillsets, approaches and performance styles. These myriad Only Bones versions have been performed in 25+ countries to over 200,000 audience members over the years.

History

As a university student, Dan saw Thom’s Only Bones v1.0 at NZ Fringe 2019 (which would go on to win Best in Fringe that year), and was incredibly inspired by the minimalist apporach to theatre-making. This show was a large influence in Dan’s exploration of physical theatre, clown and a movement-based practice of their own. After attending one of Dan’s early solo shows at NZ Fringe 2022, Thom extended an invitation for Dan to make an Only Bones of their own under his direct mentorship.

After a collaborative devising process, the work (then titles Only Bones v1.10) premiered at the New Zealand Fringe Festival in 2023 in Dan’s hometown of Te Whanganui-a-Tara, and has gone on to amaze fringe audiences in Aotearoa, Australia and the USA. Now the team behind Only Bones – Daniel Nodder is setting their sights on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to share this little show that punches above its weight with the largest festival of its kind in the world.
 

Accolades

WINNER: Outstanding Performance / Performer Award, Dunedin Fringe 2025

WINNER: Runner up Best in Fringe, Dunedin Fringe 2025

WINNER: The Dance / Physical Theatre Award, Dunedin Fringe 2025

WINNER: Most Innovative Show, Nelson Fringe 2025

WINNER: Outside The Box Award, San Diego International Fringe 2024

WINNER: Artist Pick Award, San Diego International Fringe 2024

WINNER: Outstanding Solo Performance, New Zealand Fringe 2023

WINNER: Tour Ready Melbourne Fringe, New Zealand Fringe 2023

WINNER: The International San Diego Fringe Ready Award, New Zealand Fringe 2023

NOMINATION: Best Solo Performer, Nelson Fringe 2025

NOMINATION: Best in Fringe, Dunedin Fringe 2025

NOMINATION: Best in Fringe, New Zealand Fringe 2023

NOMINATION: Judge's Pick, Melbourne Fringe 2023

NOMINATION: Performer of the Year, Wellington Theatre Awards 2023

NOMINATION: Lighting Designer of the Year, Wellington Theatre Awards 2023

NOMINATION: Composer of the Year, Wellington Theatre Awards 2023

Previous Seasons

• New Zealand Fringe Festival 2023
• Melbourne Fringe Festival 2023
• BATS Theatre, Wellington 2023
• New Zealand Fringe Festival 2024
• San Diego Fringe Festival 2024
• Basement Theatre, Auckland 2024
• Upsurge Festival, Kerikeri 2024
• Black Box Theatre, Whāngarei 2024
• Nelson Fringe Festival 2025
• Dunedin Fringe Festival 2025
• Wairarapa Events Center, Carterton 2025
• Adelaide Fringe Festival 2026

This work in particular champions physical theatre, and a love of the things our bodies can do - reminding audiences of their relationship with the bones they live in. Presenting the many marvels, characters and stories hidden in the body is not only an exercise in performance innovation, but also connects audiences with a very human presentness, curiosity and joy in discovering.

We are incredibly excited to take this boundary-pushing, genre defying work to the world’s biggest Fringe Festival, as a culmination of touring through Fringes in Aotearoa and Australia over the past few years. Taking this little kiwi work over to international audiences is an amazing opportunity to showcase the talent and creativity of some of Te Whanganui-a-Tara’s most exciting emerging artists. Sharing our work alongside some of the world’s best artists in a festival that is full of amazing opportunities without financial stress would mean that we are able to focus on the important stuff: marketing and putting on the show, meeting new people, growing and learning new skills.

10 years ago, Thom Monckton took Only Bones v1.0 to Edinburgh Fringe, and has since gone on to tour across the world with various solo physical & circus works. Being able to take Only Bones – Daniel Nodder over this year and follow the pathways already laid for us by Thom and other New Zealand artists would mean the world.