Still Alive and Kicking
Gill's first self-devised stage show: an hour of spoken narrative, jazz standards and projected paintings that shares "the insights of life through the reality of death". It won the Adelaide Fringe Edinburgh Award in 2021 and reached Wilton's Music Hall for the 20th anniversary of 7/7.
An Adelaide Fringe artist grant during COVID made the show possible. It opened at the 2021 Adelaide Fringe, playing twelve nights from 24 February to 14 March at the Black Box Theatre, with Julian Ferraretto on violin and hand saw and Dylan Paul on double bass. Songs included Bye Bye Blackbird, a slow Stayin' Alive and Summertime, and the projections showed Gill's fingerprint painting series, Brilliant Tall Poppy.
The show won the Adelaide Fringe Edinburgh Award. With COVID closing borders, the award was used to film the show at The LAB Adelaide and stream it through Black Box Live to a tower at Edinburgh Napier University on 26 August 2021, which is how it reached the Edinburgh Fringe. Gill told InReview, "I've never been so whole in my life, because here I am using every creative strand of who I am."
More seasons followed: the Perth International Cabaret Festival at His Majesty's Theatre on 24 and 25 June 2022, the APAX Conference in Sydney in 2022, the 2023 Adelaide Fringe at Light ADL, and the 2025 Adelaide Fringe at Woodville Town Hall.
On 9 July 2025, two days after the 20th anniversary of the London bombings, James Seabright presented the UK premiere at Wilton's Music Hall for one night, supported by Adelaide Fringe. Gill said the audience would be "the first responders, the people that saved my life". The show returned to England in 2026: Wilton's from 29 June to 1 July, City Varieties in Leeds on 7 and 8 July with Andy Hamill on bass, and Bristol Old Vic on 14 July.
The music is on streaming platforms as the album STILL ALIVE and KICKING, released on 28 December 2022 under the label Music Art Discussion.
The show11
2021 Adelaide Fringe Debut
The show debuted in the Black Box Theatre to sold-out audiences and five-star reviews across a 12-night season, Gill's first return to live theatre since the 2005 London bombings.
Wilton's Music Hall, London
On 9 July 2025 the show played a one-night-only UK premiere at Wilton's Music Hall, marking the 20th anniversary of the 7 July 2005 London bombings, a raw outpouring of emotion, a tribute to love, loss, and the spirit that connects us all.
Edinburgh Fringe 2021
Filmed at The LAB Adelaide, streamed by Black Box Live and projected on a tower at Edinburgh Napier University on 26 August 2021.
Perth International Cabaret Festival, His Majesty's Theatre, 24 and 25 Jun 2022
APAX Conference Sydney 2022
Adelaide Fringe 2023, Light ADL
Billed as a Cabaret South Australia Award winner.
Adelaide Fringe 2025, Woodville Town Hall
Darwin Festival 2025
Wilton's Music Hall, London, 29 Jun to 1 Jul 2026
City Varieties, Leeds, 7 and 8 Jul 2026
With Andy Hamill on bass and Dr Julian Ferraretto on violin.
Bristol Old Vic, 14 Jul 2026
The cast7
Dr Julian FerrarettoJazz violinist and composer, on violin and saw
Dylan PaulDouble bass. Elder Conservatorium alumnus
Lyndon GrayDouble bass
Andy HamillBass, 2026 England tour
Mike WorsmanMoving image, Give Media
James SeabrightUK producer
Recognition3
Winner · Edinburgh Award
Still Alive and Kicking won the coveted Fringe Edinburgh Award at the 2021 Adelaide Fringe. With COVID restrictions in place, the resulting presentation was filmed and projected onto a tower at Edinburgh's Napier University, beamed across the globe.
Five-Star Reviews
If there is one thing worth doing this Fringe, it is spending an hour in a darkened room with Gill Hicks, wrote The Barefoot Review. The Adelaide Show called it a calling to all of us to relish the mundane as much as the magnificent.
Cabaret South Australia Award
Named on the show's 2023 Adelaide Fringe listing.
The story3
Edinburgh Fringe 2021, in Gill's words
Current Performance: 2021 Edinburgh Fringe Performed by Gill Hicks, Julian Ferraretto and Dylan Paul.
A deserving winner of the Edinburgh Award from the 2021 Adelaide Fringe, this Multi Award winning show takes us on an experience
A spellbinding hour where the insights of life through the reality of death are powerfully shared using the languages of art, jazz and narrative.
At its core is a thread that is a reminder of the preciousness of the moments, the times where we are absorbed and connected to the emotion of what makes us Human.
Laugh, Cry, ponder the depth and meaning to how life can be lived.
Laugh, Cry, Sing!
This Multi Award winning show, including the Edinburgh Fringe Award in 2021 is a spellbinding hour sharing the insights of Life and the wonder of being present in the beauty of the Moments. Told through the languages of Visual Art, Music and spoken narrative, the impact of Human connection is the thread that paces throughout.
Credits
Moving image by Mike Worsman. Artwork by Gill Hicks. Recorded at The LAB Adelaide. Recorded by Black Box Live. Projection by Double Take Projections.
The making of this show would not have been possible with out the support of Adelaide Fringe and the Government of South Australia through Arts SA.
Videos3
Fringe Spotlight Series: Episode 1, Gill Hicks
STILL ALIVE and KICKING: a Big Life Moment
Professor Sebastian Longsword meets Dr Gill Hicks
Music3
Stayin' Alive
Summertime
Vocals by Gill Hicks, Violin by Julian Ferraretto and Bass by Dylan Paul
Feeling Good
Performed by Gill Hicks. Original work by Nina Simone.
Press14
The Barefoot Review, Samela Harris, 26 Feb 2021
"If there is one thing worth doing this Fringe, it is spending an hour in a darkened room with Gill Hicks."
The Barefoot Review, 26 Feb 2021
"It is an experience, a life-enhancing and endorsing experience. It is a narrative of unutterable darkness told with exquisite lightness."
The Barefoot Review, 26 Feb 2021
"There is no way such a tale should be funny, but Hicks is one of those charmed souls who can find a bright edge against the odds. And, she can sing."
The Adelaide Show, Steve Davis, 7 Mar 2021
"a calling to all of us to relish the mundane as much as the magnificent"
Adelaide Review Team, Stephen Foenander, 24 Feb 2021
"Gill Hicks, AM, MBE, FRSA is resilient, talented, calming, warm, funny and she swings like a real jazz singer."
Evening Standard, Jane Cornwell, 10 Jul 2025
"A much-garlanded peace advocate and public speaker, Hicks is a winning narrator, balancing details of the sheer horror of the terrorist attack with stories of connection and love."
SA Life Magazine
"About remembering to be grateful for every precious moment"
Seesaw Magazine, David Zampatti, May 2022
"the life-affirming Still Alive (and Kicking) from Gill Hicks"
CityMag, 7 Mar 2023
"Gill Hicks' award-winning cabaret show Still Alive and Kicking, a powerful story of life, death and life again, through music, art and narrative"
Gill, to ABC News, 7 Jul 2025
"I feel like this is the performance of a lifetime in many ways... The audience will be the first responders, the people that saved my life."
Gill, to BroadwayWorld, 20 May 2025
"It feels like I am reclaiming the pieces of myself lost in the bombings."
Gill, to InReview, 18 Aug 2021
"I've never been so whole in my life, because here I am using every creative strand of who I am"
Gill, to X-Press Magazine, 16 Jun 2022
"Cabaret is so special as it allows the combination of all the creative pieces that make me feel whole."
Gill, to Leeds Living, 17 Feb 2026
"This special show is a powerful, poignant reminder of just how precious every moment is, that Life is fragile."
Images5
Links2
Media release, 18 August 2021
Wilton's Music Hall
Sourcesthemadcreative.agency/still-alive-and-kicking-edinburgh-fringe-2021gillhicks.com/artistgillhicks.com/wider-stageseabright.org/still-alive-and-kicking/wiltons.org.uk/whats-on/still-alive-and-kicking-2/adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/still-alive-and-kicking-af2023indailysa.com.au/inreview/archive/2021/08/18/finding-a-hard-won-home-on-stageindailysa.com.au/salife/people-and-places/2021/12/10/gill-hicks-alive-and-kickinabc.net.au/news/2025-07-07/australian-survivor-marks-twenty-years-since-london-athebarefootreview.com.au/menu/theatre/119-2014-adelaide-reviews/2131-still-aliveleedsliving.co.uk/?p=58975