World Premiere • Melbourne Fringe Festival 2026
Rama Nicholas in Fairy Smut
Fantasy, romance and character comedy collide in Fairy Smut, a live solo show created and performed by Rama Nicholas.
Meet Thistle: a grumpy fairy with a filthy mouth, a wicked imagination and a very steamy story to tell. Rama brings a cast of witches, dragons and fantastical characters to life in a mischievous adventure through the world of romantasy.
Grab your grimoire. Loosen your laces. It’s storytime, witches.
Melbourne Fringe 2026
Underground Upstairs at the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre
210 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
60 minutes · Ages 18+
Visit the Melbourne Fringe booking page for performance dates, ticket availability and accessibility information.
RAMA NICHOLAS
Award-winning actor.
Festival headliner.
Genre-defying storyteller.
From award-winning solo theatre to impro formats taught around the world, Rama has spent nearly thirty years captivating audiences. Available for theatre, screen and television.
TRAIN WITH ME
Transform your performance with fearless creativity and emotional truth.
I've been teaching since 2010, leading masterclasses and workshops all around the world. My classes are inspiring and hands-on, built for actors and improvisers who'd rather take a real risk than play it safe. Whether you want one-on-one attention or a room full of people to work with, I've got your back.
My work spans solo theatre, improvisation, and teaching. I create genre-defying shows that are as hilarious as they are heartfelt and have performed to sold-out houses across the globe.
Over the past decade I've written and performed a string of solo shows — including Death Rides a Horse, After Ever After, Mary Weather's Monsters, The Lucky Ones, and Evidence — to sold-out houses and glowing reviews at major festivals in Australia and abroad. Each one blends the boldness of sketch comedy with the nuance of dramatic theatre, built around characters I can morph between in a single breath.
Beyond the solo work, I'm an improviser and teacher invited to headline festivals and lead masterclasses internationally, including my formats Close To You and The Wishing Tree. My teaching is rigorous but never cold — I want performers to take real risks and leave with a stage presence that's genuinely their own.
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Death Rides a Horse (2013)
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After Ever After (2014)
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Mary Weathers Monsters (2015)
The Lucky Ones (2017)
Screen Work
Focus: Film & television
Selected: 2015–present
Alongside her stage work, Rama brings the same emotional precision and character depth to screen — translating a decade of live performance instinct into grounded, camera-ready work. Her theatrical range and comic timing make her equally at home in drama and comedy roles.
Writer / Director
Focus: Solo shows & new work
Recent: Death Rides a Horse, Mary Weather's Monsters, Evidence
Rama writes and directs the shows she performs — genre-defying solo work that blends sketch comedy's boldness with dramatic theatre's nuance. Each piece is built for cinematic scope and seamless character morphing, playing to sold-out houses at major festivals across Australia and abroad.
Improvisation
Focus: Long-form & narrative improv
Teaching since: 2010
Rama is an internationally sought-after improviser, headlining festivals and leading masterclasses across Australia, Europe, and beyond. Her formats Close To You and The Wishing Tree have played to critical acclaim, building grounded, emotionally truthful scenes in real time — the same instinct for spontaneity and connection she brings to every workshop.
Rama Nicholas Showreel
Over ten years of award winning solo shows
| SOLO SHOWS |
2013-2026
Winner • Fringe Tour Award
Death Rides a Horse
A wild, genre-bending tale of love, revenge and redemption set in a dusty spaghetti Western town. Rama Nicholas gallops between characters in this cinematic solo show, fusing razor-sharp comedy with haunting pathos. With a live score and whip-smart storytelling, Death Rides a Horse is a bullet-paced theatrical showdown that redefines the Western – and the one-woman show.
Winner
Moosehead Award • Melbourne International Comedy Festival
After Ever After
What happens when “happily ever after” wears off?
Rama Nicholas revisits the world of the Brothers Grimm in a mischievous fairy-tale adventure for adults. Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf and Snow White return with unfinished business, questionable decisions and very different ideas about a happy ending.
Created and performed by Rama, After Ever After combines character comedy, storytelling and original songs in a fairy tale that has thoroughly outgrown bedtime.
Nominated • Golden Gibbo • Best Independent Show
Mary Weathers Monsters
Melbourne International Comedy Festival
London, the 1890s. Monster hunter Mary Weather protects the city from creatures lurking beyond the ordinary world. But her next adventure will challenge everything she believes about monsters, heroes and who deserves saving.
Rama Nicholas creates a cast of extraordinary characters in this gothic comedy adventure, blending fantasy, romance and physical storytelling.
Written and performed by Rama, Mary Weather’s Monsters explores the sometimes surprisingly thin line between the monstrous and the human.
Nominated • Golden Gibbo • Best Independent Show
Melbourne International Comedy Festival
The Lucky Ones
Romance writer Carmen Walters has some stories to tell, and they’re anything but sensible.
Rama Nicholas brings Carmen and her imagined worlds to life in a solo comedy adventure filled with love, lust and wonderfully unlikely encounters. Moving between characters and intertwining stories, Rama explores the romance behind the ridiculousness.
The Lucky Ones is a playful celebration of love in its many forms, with a generous helping of outrageous innuendo.
Evidence
Evidence is a solo show by Rama Nicholas, presented at Malthouse Theatre as part of the 2023 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
It forms part of Rama’s body of original theatre work as a writer and performer.
Work With Me
World class Expert in Improvisation, Acting and Comedy with 30 years experience.
Mentoring
I'm putting together a mentoring program for improvisers who want real, ongoing feedback instead of another one-off workshop. Details are still coming together, but if it sounds like your thing, add your name below and you'll be first to hear when it opens.
Ongoing work with your team or troupe. I sit in, watch you play, and give you the notes a good outside eye catches: what's landing, what's habit, what you're all avoiding. Best for established groups who want to get sharper together rather than start from scratch.
Coaching / Group Mentor
Intimacy Training
Playing closeness, attraction and physical connection on stage without guesswork. We cover consent, boundaries and technique, so intimate scenes are safe to build and honest to watch. For actors and improvisers who want to handle this material with care and confidence.
Get In Touch
