Review by Markus Hamence – Hannah Maxwell: I, AmDram – Performance date: Saturday 14 March 2026. Holden Street Theatre, Adelaide, South Australia.
Hannah Maxwell: I, AmDram: For musical theatre fans and haters alike, don’t miss the return of this award-winning love letter to hometown, family, and the cult of English amateur dramatics.
Join Hannah Maxwell for a joy-filled hour of amdram anecdotes, musical parodies and very basic choreography, telling the painfully-true story of her final year with her family’s community theatre company; from her woeful audition for My Fair Lady, to coming out as gay (less traumatic).
I, AMDRAM has been performed 150+ times, charming audiences across the globe.
Allow me to unpack the Drama…
Tucked inside the charming garden setting at Holden Street Theatres, Hannah Maxwell’s I, AmDram lands on your show calendar as one of those Fringe gems that thrives on personality, storytelling and the wonderfully chaotic world of amateur theatre. This is solo theatre done right – intimate, witty and packed with the kind of heartfelt nostalgia that instantly pulls the audience into Maxwell’s orbit.
Maxwell’s show is essentially a love letter to the culture of English amateur dramatics – the kind of community theatre where entire families grow up backstage, learning their lines while surrounded by costumes, tea mugs and well-worn scripts. Drawing on nearly a century of family history in amdram, Maxwell guides the audience through tales of rehearsals, auditions and theatrical mishaps with razor-sharp comic timing and genuine affection for the world she grew up in.
“With little more than a keyboard, a few props and her own vivid imagination, Maxwell jumps seamlessly between characters, timelines and memories…”
Markus Hamence
The storytelling is the engine of the show. With little more than a keyboard, a few props and her own vivid imagination, Maxwell jumps seamlessly between characters, timelines and memories. One moment she’s recounting a disastrous audition for My Fair Lady, the next she’s channeling relatives, theatre legends or the eccentric personalities that populate community productions. The result feels like a one-woman ensemble piece, filled with colourful voices and theatrical chaos.
What makes I, AmDram sparkle is Maxwell’s ability to balance comedy with something deeper. Beneath the musical parodies and playful choreography sits a personal story about identity, family expectations and the complicated process of coming out. These moments give the show its emotional weight, turning what could have been a simple nostalgia trip into something more layered and reflective.
The setting in the open-air Barbara Hardy Garden adds to the charm. Fringe audiences sit close enough to feel like they’re part of the rehearsal room, creating the same communal atmosphere that amateur theatre itself celebrates. It’s a relaxed, welcoming space that suits Maxwell’s storytelling style perfectly.
To the drunk random heckler in the audience who mumbled incoherently during the first half of the show before exclaiming she was kidnapped into this show and, I quote her “I wonder what would Jamie Oliver say about this”, you need to do better my dear at the theatre. To Hannah Maxwell: You handled the situation with incredible professionalism with even being rude to her. Credit.
“…the crowd feels less like spectators and more like fellow cast members in Maxwell’s theatrical memoir. It’s funny, heartfelt and refreshingly honest…”
Markus Hamence
By the time the show reaches its finale – complete with audience participation, flower throwing as a cheeky theatrical flourish – the crowd feels less like spectators and more like fellow cast members in Maxwell’s theatrical memoir. It’s funny, heartfelt and refreshingly honest.
I, AmDram proves that the smallest stages can hold the biggest stories. Hannah Maxwell turns family memories, theatre obsession and personal discovery into a joyful hour of storytelling that feels both intimate and universal.
Wrap-up: A witty, warm and thoroughly entertaining Fringe theatre piece – I, AmDram celebrates the glorious madness of amateur theatre while reminding us why performing, storytelling and belonging to a creative community matters so much.
Hannah Maxwell: My Gay Lady (I, AmDram)
Thursday 19 February – Sunday 22 March 2026
The Barbara Hardy Garden at Holden Street Theatres
Tickets
Watch my INTEVIEW with Hannah Maxwell
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