Award-Winning Performance, Only Bones – Daniel Nodder Debuts In Te Waipounamu

Arriving back in Aotearoa after a successful season at the San Diego International Fringe Festival, multi-award-winning production Only Bones – Daniel Nodder is heading south for a two-stop tour of Nelson Fringe 12 & 13 March and Dunedin Fringe 20 & 22 March.

This innovative Wellington-based show took home two awards at the San Diego Fringe, including the Artists’ Pick Award and the Outside the Box Award. Their international success came after the show won big at the 2023 NZ Fringe Festival, taking home awards for Outstanding Solo Performance, Tour-Ready Melbourne Fringe and Tour-Ready San Diego Fringe, plus a nomination for the Best in Fringe.

Only Bones – Daniel Nodder is the eleventh iteration of The Only Bones Project. Created by award-winning physical and circus performer, Thom Monckton (The Artist, The King of Taking), The Only Bones Project is designed to challenge and celebrate physical performers.

“We have such a wealth of talented physical performers in this world and I wanted to create something that celebrates the weird, wacky and wonderful things they can do,” Monckton says.

“The restrictions are a key part of that. It means that the performers can’t rely on a big set or fancy tech, all they have is their body and their creativity.”

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This physical performance masterpiece is completely devoid of any spoken words but is riddled with exceptionally challenging feats of dance and physical theatre. Featuring a single lightbulb, a small circle on the floor and a mesmerising original score, Daniel Nodder dances, clowns, and bends in ways you never thought possible. With jelly-like movement, this work spans the universe from the Big Bang to the invention of fire to a primordial hand ballet with upbeat jazz.

This Summer, Nodder’s iteration will debut at the Nelson and Dunedin Fringe Festivals where it will likely continue its track record of being a festival favourite for audiences and critics alike. One Melbourne reviewer remarked, “This is the type of show that you go to a Fringe Festival for” in 2023.

“I saw Thom perform the original Only Bones in 2018, which was the catalyst for The Only Bones Project, and it changed my life,” Daniel Nodder says.

“To be invited by Thom to make an Only Bones of my own is a pretty amazing experience.”

Daniel Nodder and Thomas Monkton present:

Only Bones – Daniel Nodder
NELSON FRINGE FESTIVAL
WHEN: 7:30pm, 12 & 13 March, 2025
WHERE: Red Door Theatre, 95 Atawhai Drive, Nelson
PRICE: $18 (General Admission), $28 (Pay a bit more), $50 (Pay a lot more)
TO BOOK: https://www.trybooking.com/nz/events/landing/14474
DUNEDIN FRINGE FESTIVAL
WHEN: 8pm, 20 & 22 March, 2025
WHERE: Te Whare o Rukutia,
PRICE: $23 (General Admission), $20 (Concession), $18.40 (Group 6+)
TO BOOK: https://www.dunedinfringe.nz/events/only-bones-daniel-nodder

About the Only Bones Project

Only Bones – Daniel Nodder is the eleventh iteration of a series of solo shows grouped together under The Only Bones Project, created in 2015 by world-renowned circus and physical performer, Thom Monckton. The project champions physicality and virtuoso performance and has since become a genre in itself with 11 high-calibre artists from a variety of performance backgrounds contributing their own versions. Each artist is invited to create their own show under a uniform set of parameters. 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.

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